We All Fall Down
by whitefire
Summary: A girl is captured by the Centre to bring in their Pretender with her unique talent...
1. Lyle

We All Fall Down We All Fall Down Part 1 

*Author's note: This was written for non pretender fans, so please bear with me. Sorry NBC and TnT... 

  
  
INTRODUCTION   
  
Lyle stood solemnly and respectfully in front of the Tribunal.   
  
"She would be a valuable asset to the Centre and an excellent aide to the recapture and reassimilation of the Pretender Jarod."   
  
"We have wasted years searching, what difference will…" the woman started.   
  
Lyle cut her off, "She is not a waste."   
  
One of the men spoke. "We will forgive you for your disrespect this time, Mr. Lyle. And we will allow you to continue in her assimilation. When she arrives, we want proof of her ability. We cannot waste even more time and money on frivolous and unrealistic goals. If she is what you say she is, and if you can find our pretender, we will reward you greatly for your accomplishments. If your plan succeeds, we may permit you to be the director of both the Pretender and the Reader. If not, your position in this corporation will be reduced considerably."   
  
The other man finished for him. "We are rather tired of playing your games, Mr. Lyle. And so far they have led to several recaptures of Jarod that have led to an equal number of escapes. For the time being, Mr. Raines will overlook your progress and will report directly to us. Failure will not be tolerated any longer."   
  
"I will not disappoint you."   
  
* * *   
  
"I don't care what you think, she must be told the truth! She would trust us even less if she knew we were lying to her. And she is capable of telling if we are," snapped Lyle.   
  
"She won't help us if she knows the truth," Mr. Raines shot back.   
  
"Problem?" Miss. Parker asked sarcastically as she approached them.   
  
Lyle straightened, "No, how was your trip to Florida?"   
  
"Florida was a dead-end. The only Jarods there were as dried up as you, Raines."   
  
He glared at her, but walked away silently. Lyle turned his attention back to his sister.   
  
"I have to go."   
  
She eyed him warily as he followed Raines to the elevator. "I will make her help us," he whispered to Raines.   
  
  
  
  
  
The Pretender: We All Fall Down   
  
  
  
Chapter 1 "Lyle"   
  
  
  
"And remember, don't stay out too late," reminded Ms. Jameson.   
  
"O-Kay," Leigh said, exasperated, "It's not like I'm gonna stay at the party forever, it's only a street dance with some of my friends."   
  
"Alright, Leigh. Have fun sweetie," said her foster mother affectionately.   
  
"'Kay, bye Ms. Jameson."   
  
  
  
Leigh's bike skidded to a halt in front of the abused and rusted bike rack.   
  
"Hey Leigh, waz up? Where ya been?" her friends teased her.   
  
"Oh yeah, I found another bunch of friends and had a huge bash before this one," Leigh teased back.   
  
"Hey HEY!! Are we gonna party, or just botha' Leigh?" a curly-haired blonde girl asked.   
  
Her friend, AJ, flipped on his CD player, "Any requests?" he asked as he looked through his CD collection.   
  
"98°'s" shouted another girl, Jenn. The boys howled in mock annoyance.   
  
"Sugar-Ray!" which was soon followed by a chorus of teenaged agreements.   
  
  
  
The music pounded over the speakers.   
  
"Great party," Jenn commented to Leigh.   
  
The party was rockin' and the music was fast. The teenagers danced for hours. Dusk was beginning to fall on the warm summer day when AJ crouched down by the CD player and flicked it off.   
  
"Batteries run low?" someone asked him.   
  
"I have summore," someone else offered.   
  
"Nah, da police are here," AJ said nonchalantly.   
  
The teens turned around to see a lone cruiser parked near them. The officer inside slowly rose out of the car and threw a hand through his dark brown hair. After flicking his cigarette to the ground he glanced casually at the teens with his beady eyes, who were elbowing each other jokingly. He pointed right at Leigh with his pencil   
  
"You Leslie Sanchez?" he inquired.   
  
"So what if I am?" she retorted, some of her friends giggled nervously.   
  
"I need you for ah- questioning," he said as he glanced at a notebook.   
  
She shrugged and he motioned to the back seat. He slipped in front, carrying with him the acrid smell of his cigarettes. He tossed the notebook on the passenger seat and started the engine. He twisted around to back up the car, giving Leigh a strange look of confusion. As the cruiser sped off she waved good-bye to her friends out the back window.   
  
* * *   
  
The officer pulled up to a trailer in an otherwise empty yard and brusquely escorted Leigh out of the car. She paused to view the dismal scenery, and wonder why they were so far out of town, but the cop pulled her arm to have her walk in front of him. She complied and they entered the trailer.   
  
The inside was small, but brightly lit.   
  
"Sit here," the officer ordered, pointing to a small wooden stool inside the kitchen counter's half circle.   
  
She waited, bored, and studied the countertop. She spun on the stool, back and forth, back and forth. When she spun completely around, she saw the cop talking with another man. A name echoed in her mind,   
  
"Lyle?" she whispered, confused.   
  
The man stared at her, in grim satisfaction painted on his face as he heard his name. He was handsome, with a kind, almost gentle, expression, but something in his piercing blue eyes kept her from believing that. She stood up. She closed her eyes as he slowly came around the counter and circled her, studying her closely. His blue eyes poured across her body. He stopped in front of her.   
  
"Hello Leigh," he said as he reached out and grabbed her arm.   
  
He pulled her closer to himself, but she struggled away from him, confused and scared. He increased he's grip and pulled her closer again.   
  
"No," she murmured as she tore out of his grasp.   
  
He pushed her, hard. She fell onto the counter. It hit her neck; blackness crept up around the edges of her eyes.   
  
She moaned as Lyle grabbed her arm and picked her up like a rag doll. He pulled her to the counter and let go. Leigh shot her arm out to keep from falling. The cop watched her in amused interest. Lyle laughed; he punched her across the face and grinned as she slipped off the counter, unconscious.   
  
* * *   
  
Leigh awoke in a darkened room. She moaned softly as she remembered what had happened. Fear and pain paraded their sad song around in her head.   
  
At the sound of her voice, a man's voice, from an intercom system, called to her. It was soft and patient, like a grandfather's voice, and had the slightest hint of an accent. It seemed out of place in comparison to her encounter with Mr. Lyle.   
  
"Leigh?" the man invited.   
  
"Who are you? Where am I?" she demanded.   
  
"My name is Dr. Sydney Greene, I work here at the Centre."   
  
"The Centre?"   
  
"It is a research facility that it finds pretenders and exploits their intelli-."   
  
"What are pretenders?" she interrupted again, her curiosity outdoing her fear.   
  
"They are people with an ability to become anyone they want to, or are forced to, be. They are incredibly smart, geniuses, in fact."   
  
"Why am I here?" she asked.   
  
"One of ours has gone missing," he paused, carefully avoiding the pretender's name, "We need you to locate him. You will be given DSA files on him to help-."   
  
"Files?! What? wait a min. You're telling me I have to find this person for you? I'm no psychic, Mr., let me go!" she said.   
  
"In a way," he sighed, "You know what your ability is. We call it Reading. To see into someone's mind. You can do this and we need you to find him. He was raised at the Centre, but he escaped a couple years ago and we cannot get him back. We need you to find him for us."   
  
"What, do you own Jarod or something?" she said scornfully.   
  
Sydney's surprise registered at her perception. "I did not tell you his name." Leigh shuttered at the realization she had guessed right and he knew it.   
  
"Lyle would tell you that we own him. Jarod was raised and trained at the Centre after he was stolen from his parents. What was done to him should never had been done to any human."   
  
"You seem to care about him more than Lyle would."   
  
"I raised him."   
  
  
  
A few minutes later a silver laptop arrived with about twenty CD's. Out of curiosity, she opened it, popped the first CD into the drive, and turned it on. She watched as a scared three-year-old grew up into a brilliant 30-year-old at the Centre. She watched him grow to be a strong, brilliant adult. In some ways he still was a child. Although he was kind and caring, his lack of awareness for others and the programmed lack of emotions was disturbing.   
  
He spent those decades solving problems and completing scenarios where his genius was used to create things from models, new inventions, to ideas. He was forced to simulate crimes with stunning realty. He literal could become anyone the Centre wanted him to be. At the start of each simulation, he was made to believe that he was the person he was pretending to be. Sometimes, depending on the extremeness of the Sim, he was drugged beforehand. He intimidated violent murders, kidnappings, robberies and rapes as the criminal. During the sessions, he would try to understand why the person did what they did and how they achieved it. In the later files, there were even experiments used on him and others that he designed. Some of which had been recreated from Hitler's time. The last CD showed one of them.   
  
Leigh set it in the player and commanded the computer to run it. Leigh saw Jarod, yelling. Struggling, twisting, turning, Jarod was held by two men who were attempting to drag him down a hallway. The camera caught a sign overhead that read: "SUBLEVEL 27."   
  
When the camera returned to Jarod, he had sprung free of the guards and leapt towards a desk. Another camera caught sight of his face. His eyes were terror-stricken. He was pleading with the man at the desk to help him, "Save me!" his lips mouthed. The man backed up in surprise and fear. Jarod looked hopeless and confused by his reaction. The two guards seized Jarod's legs and tore him off. He tried to reach the edge of the desk for a brace, but only managed in upsetting a pile of papers. "No!" he screamed. The men dragged him to a surgery table. They strapped him to it as he flailed about. After they left, Jarod looked around the now seemingly empty room and started to shake the steel table in his feudal efforts to escape. He whimpered in fear.   
  
The camera zoomed over to show a man's hands holding a small bottle and a syringe. It showed the hands ejecting 3 ccs from a bottle labeled potassium chloride.   
  
It showed the face of the other man, heartless, cruel, Lyle.   
  
He looked into Jarod's face, smiling. Jarod froze with horrified recognition. Lyle plunged the needle into his shoulder and injected.   
  
"No, no, NOOO!" Jarod screamed, endeavoring to tear the leather bindings from his limbs.   
  
Slowly his cries diminished, weakness overcame Jarod. Mr. Lyle waited, impatiently, off to the side, for the medication to work. The monitors loosely attached to Jarod flickered feebly.   
  
"Bastard!" Leigh cried.   
  
Lyle casually picked up another filled syringe. He injected it into Jarod's deadened shoulder. He started to move. The other chemicals must have been some kind of antidote.   
  
Leigh sat there, stunned by the sheer inhumanity of Lyle. She decided never to help this Centre to find Jarod, for he had created the experiment, not knowing that he was to be the guinea pig.   
  
* * *   
  
"Good morning Ms Parker," Sydney offered as he reached for his cup of coffee.   
  
"Morning," she said with the usual storm clouds drifting across her face.   
  
"Who's the new player Lyle has dragged in this day?"   
  
"She's here to help him find Jarod, she's-"   
  
Parker stopped him, "Let me guess, another one of his fantasy Asian lovers, Lyle has more girlfriends that disappear…" she composed herself, "What is she, another hacker?"   
  
"A pretender, but she was specifically chosen because she can Read."   
  
"So can I," she said indignantly.   
  
"No, what I mean is… she can Read someone's mind."   
  
"Yeah, right. If that's so," Miss Parker stated disbelieving, "Why haven't we heard about her before? The Centre has ties to almost every company and web site, unless she's never gone public…"   
  
"I would be short notice for her to do that," Sydney explained, "She's sixteen."   
  
"Sh-" Miss Parker caught her self, "You're kidding!"   
  
"No, she was brought in yesterday. Lyle ordered that she be brought up to speed on Jarod so she can locate him faster. I was able to talk with her briefly, her ability is amazing!"   
  
Parker cringed visibly as images in her mind of her teenaged years at the Centre flashed by. She was overwhelmed with pity for the girl.   
  
  
  
Leigh was roughly shaken awake to find Lyle leaning over her. She closed her eyes to slits and glared at him.   
  
"I see Sydney included some of his own DSA's. I'll get to the point then, we need Jarod and you are capable of doing that. So, will you find him?" he paused to let her answer. "Okay, this can be done willingly or there are some methods of persuasion we can-"   
  
"Why can't you let me go?"   
  
"Because, Jarod is our property and we need you to find him."   
  
"You can't own a person, that's…"   
  
"We have for thirty years."   
  
"You are a sick and twisted man."   
  
"We have other ways of making you Read him, it's Jarod's own design I believe. He created a way that would force you to Read anyone. It seems to be very painful, or at least I have heard…"   
  
"Fine," she snapped.   
  
She closed her eyes, "dream-phasing" she had nicknamed it. She did not know what it was or how it happened, but she did know it let her in other's minds. She had never really enjoyed doing it, reading other's memories or experiencing things through other's eyes. It had that guilty feeling attached to it like reading someone's diary, only worse. She had never told anyone about it. Even Ms. Jameson did not know. She knew it was unnatural. She always wondered if anyone else could Read, too. What could a Pretender do?   
  
She saw Jarod sitting at a desk in a room full of plants and tables; it had an odd alga smell to it. He looked up at a chalkboard with writing and pictures covering most of it. One specific part read: "Sci. 4- review quest. 1-5, read pg. 31-39."   
  
Science, a school! she guessed.   
  
Jarod looked back at his paperwork, and began to rustle through it.   
  
As fast as she could, Leigh read one of the paper's headings.   
  
  
  
"Inter -----   
  
-----------   
  
Andover, ME"   
  
  
  
was all she caught.   
  
Andover, Maine?   
  
Jarod's world faded as she awakened to her own. She kept her eyes closed for a while, recollecting her jumbled thoughts.   
  
Lyle's sadistic voice came from behind her, "Thank you, Sanchez, that was very well done."   
  


[][1]Comments/ Questions  


[Part 2: We All Fall Down PG_13][2]  


[BACK][3]  


   [1]: mailto:whitefire_64@yahoo.com
   [2]: http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/whitefirefanfic/leigh2.html
   [3]: http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/whitefirefanfic/



	2. Potassium-Chloride

We All Fall Down 2

*Author's note: Sorry FOX and TnT... 

Chapter 2 Potassium-Chloride   
  
  
  
"Where is he?" snapped Lyle.   
  
"I won't tell you!"   
  
"Yes you will."   
  
"Never!" Leigh turned away from him, towards the wall and slammed her fist against it in frustration, accentuating her reply.   
  
He stood up slowly; his form towered over where she lay. He glared at her and taking her head in his hands turned her head back towards him. He tried to control his burning rage while she stared back, trying to control her tormenting fears.   
  
"Now," his voice was lowered to a dangerous tone, "Tell me, where's Jarod?"   
  
"No, Lyle, I'll never tell you! You said you had ways of making me Read him, but I bet you can't make me tell you what I Read."   
  
"Actually, that's exactly what I've been waiting for," he muttered as he stormed out of the room.   
  
* * *   
  
Dressed in black suits they came to her room, two guards or "sweepers" that looked as big as mountains.   
  
An entire cooperation depends upon whether I tell them the location of their 'slave', she thought to herself. What a sad world.   
  
The guards dragged her off the bed and unlocked the handcuffs. They dragged her to an elevator at the end of the corridor adjacent to the room she had been kept in.   
  
"No," Leigh pleaded; her voice a hoarse whisper.   
  
She tried to struggle, but the muscular guards held her tightly. They shoved her into the elevator and pressed the button to close the doors. She tried to escape. One of the guards threw her to the back of the elevator, blocking the doors. The other cornered her. He snapped her head back sharply into the metal wall hard. She collapsed weakly into his arms.   
  
  
  
As the metal doors hummed their way open, Lyle glimpsed Leigh. The guards held her elbows and wrists in a position that made her look like she was bowing. Her thin, red hair hung over her pale face.   
  
  
  
"Hey Leigh, recognize the place?" Lyle said jokingly.   
  
She looked up and, squinting into the dim lighting, Leigh gasped softly as she saw him and the sign that hung past him. She squirmed in the sweeper's grasp.   
  
" 'Guess a little paint didn't change much down here," he laughed.   
  
Her silvery blue eyes reflected her unamused expression.   
  
"Anyway, you already know that last time Jarod caused quite a stir down here. This time that won't happen."   
  
"What are you going to do to me?" her eyes widening in fear.   
  
"Willie, would you care to show her?"   
  
One of the sweeper's fists drew back before she could react. She dropped quietly to the floor.   
  
* * *   
  
Sydney turned on the video monitor of Leigh's room and waited a couple seconds as the program loaded. He was halfway through a sip of coffee when he almost dropped the cup. He suddenly realized what Lyle had meant by his last words to Leigh in her now-empty room.   
  
"He has taken her to SL-27," he gasped, "Miss Parker!"   
  
* * *   
  
Weak, and dizzy, Leigh pictured Jarod on the table, secured to it, yet screaming his desperate cry like an abandoned child. The emotions that the video had carried with it were raw, vivid, yet Jarod did not seem to show any emotion except fear. Jarod was so childlike; he had no real personality. What was he like now? He had been out of the Centre for years; he was experiencing everything for the first time. Like a child. What would it be like for him to be taken away from that? Could they find a way to make him their willing subject again?   
  
Could they make her a willing subject?   
  
She was scared by her last thought. Could that really happen to her? Could she fight it? Would she change?   
  
"No!"   
  
The guards halted, stunned by the ferocity of her cry.   
  
"Carry on," Lyle snapped, slightly annoyed. The guards resumed their slow dragging of her body and she recessed to her terrifying thoughts. A medical table came into view as they rounded a corner. They had to walk past a nurse who was drawing liquid into a needle. Leigh read the small lettering on the label.   
  
It was potassium chloride.   
  
She watched the nurse drain the contents of the bottle, 1 cc, 2, 3.   
  
"No, please, no" she murmured. She moaned as Lyle struck her head with the back of his hand. "Shut up Sanchez."   
  
Leigh shivered, "You bastard," she whispered under her breath.   
  
Lyle halted and turned around. "What did you say?" he asked slowly.   
  
Leigh spat on the floor near his polished black shoes. Lyle grabbed a large roll of tape off a nearby desk. He tore a piece of it off the roll and slapped it over her mouth, holding his hand there.   
  
"Follow my request and you won't get hurt."   
  
He used his thumb to smooth the duct tape that covered her quivering lips. He leaned his head onto hers. Eyes aflame he asked angrily, "Okay?"   
  
She nodded mutely. He leaned closer to her and kissed the tape over her lips. She pulled back, away from his demonic face. She looked into his eyes in shock, unsure of what he would do next.   
  
He whispered to her, "Good," and to her relief, he stepped back and turned around.   
  
Shaking in fear, tears streamed openly down her light cheeks. Lyle strode meaningfully to the table a few feet away. After the nurse brought him the syringe, he looked up sharply at Leigh, and motioned the guards to drag her over to him. They lifted her over the frigid, steel table. She flinched as they let go.   
  
Lyle deftly secured the restraints over her body.   
  
* * *   
  
"Syd, slow down!" Miss Parker urged.   
  
"The girl, the new pretender, Lyle has taken her to SL-27 for the potassium chloride experiment!" exclaimed Sydney.   
  
"Potassium chloride?" she asked.   
  
"Yes, it's harmless when mixed with other chemicals, but pure, god, it'll kill her," said the engineer, Broots, nervously.   
  
"Syd," Miss Parker started.   
  
"We have to go down there!" interrupted Sydney.   
  
"SL-27, are you kidding?" exclaimed Broots as he raced with them down to the lift.   
  
* * *   
  
"Hey Leigh," Lyle taunted, "You know that this experiment has a one-hundred percent survival rate. It has only been tested on one person and he is still alive."   
  
Her breath shook as she inhaled; Leigh just stared up at him. He picked at the tape that covered her mouth then suddenly ripped it off her mouth. She winced in pain.   
  
Lyle seemed pleased with himself.   
  
"I don't hav' to do this," he said, smiling to himself as her watched her feudal attempts to undo the straps, "If you tell me where he is."   
  
"Why are you anyway?" she asked.   
  
"Maybe this should be slow," he pondered, aloud.   
  
"Your mind games won't work on me Lyle," she spat at him, hoping there was some truth in her statement.   
  
Lyle stopped his pacing around her. He casually picked up the full needle and walked over to her. He scratched the tip over her bare arm. "Where's Jarod?"   
  
"No," she cried, "please Lyle!"   
  
"Fine!" he yelled as he injected the 3 cc.   
  
She screamed, disbelieving the harshness and cruelty, wanting to wake up at home and forget this. So this is really how it felt, she thought as her mind became jumbled, her thoughts confused.   
  
"Shh-shh-shhhh," he whispered to her, "It's sleep time, good night!"   
  
She closed her eyes.   
  
Lyle stood up and smiled inwardly.   
  
"Wake her up," said another voice.   
  
Sydney had his gun drawn point blank at Lyle.   
  
Lyle jumped back when he saw him, "Woh! Syd calm down," Lyle nervously.   
  
"Do it!" Sydney demanded.   
  
Miss Parker and Broots slowly filed in behind him as if to lend support.   
  
Lyle glared at the three of them as he pulled out another syringe and tossed it to Sydney.   
  
"What is it?"   
  
"Potassium benzoate. It will dissipate the effects."   
  
Sydney quickly injected it into her arm.   
  
"Come on, Leigh, come on," he murmured, "Why isn't she waking up Lyle?"   
  
"Patience, Syd."   
  
She began to move as if waking from an ordinary sleep to see Sydney. He breathed a long sigh of relief as he and Miss Parker freed her from the restraints.   
  


[][1]Comments/ Questions  


[Part 3: We All Fall Down PG_13][2]

[BACK][3]  


   [1]: mailto:whitefire_64@yahoo.com
   [2]: http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/whitefirefanfic/leigh3.html
   [3]: http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/whitefirefanfic/



	3. Betrayal

We All Fall Down 3 We All Fall Down 3 

  
  
Chapter 3 Betrayal   
  
  
  
Leigh's bike skidded to a halt on the freshly fallen rain puddles that covered the muddy ground. Funny, a week ago white seemed the only color that the world knew. Like a dirty Welcome mat, the snow was shaken off of the cold Montana streets to give way to piles of dirt and salt.   
  
"Hey Leigh!" her friend, Tara, called, "Where ya been? Our friends have been looking all over for you."   
  
"Oh around…"   
  
"Well, let's party then!"   
  
The music started again, but soon a cop car drove up. Out of it stepped two men. Lyle, who was dragging a severely beaten Jarod. "How could you, Leigh?" Jarod said, "You betrayed me and my mind. Why did you help him Leigh? What did I ever do to you? Leigh, Leigh, Leigh…"   
  
  
  
"Leigh!"   
  
She moaned. Let this nightmare be the dream.   
  
"Hey Leigh! How was your lil' nap?" Lyle asked tauntingly, "Dream about me?"   
  
"Leave me alone!"   
  
"I'll take that as a yes," he smiled.   
  
"Today we're going to take a little trip to the Principal's office because somebody's been a bad little girl."   
  
"Oh really, I thought you were male," she spat at him.   
  
Ignoring her comment, Lyle continued grimly, "First, I think you need to visit the nurse," he pulled out a syringe. It was filled with a clear liquid. She tried to pull away but there was no where to run to. For herself or Jarod.   
  
* * *   
  
Lyle despised Mr. Raines. He despised the way that damned corpse carried his oxygen tank around like a favored toy. He despised how the Tribunal let Raines have all the control. And he especially despised the way he would waltz into his project, give orders, and expect them relayed.   
  
"This is it Mr. Lyle," Mr. Raines said as if Lyle was a hapless idiot like himself, "We need to finish this before Jarod moves again."   
  
"I am trying as hard as I can…"   
  
Raines stole a glance at Leigh. She was lying in a heap on the polished floor with three sweepers standing close by. She was moving slightly, hinting her return to consciousness. He gave a wave of his aged and wrinkled hand to dismiss Lyle's words and slowly walked to the door.   
  
"If your job has any value to you, I suggest you complete this fiasco today."   
  
Lyle gave a sharp nod, "Yes, Sir."   
  
  
  
Lyle walked over to where Leigh lay sprawled out on the hard, tiled floor. He motioned for two sweepers to pull her up into a kneeling position. With all his anger and frustration he struck her across her face.   
  
Leigh cried out in pain as the back of his hand scored its hit next to her right eye. She fell forward dizzily onto her knees, but the sweepers yanked her back up. She looked fearfully at Lyle as he glared at her with what little control over his rage was left. She flinched as he kneeled in front of her.   
  
"You're ruining a good suit for me, I'm honored," Leigh mocked him.   
  
"Shut up," he growled and punched her, hard, in the stomach. Pain shot through her. Leigh tried to retaliate, but the sweepers whipped her back with such force that she slid across the highly polished floor several feet and crashed into the wall. Lyle rose and walked with disgust over to where she lay in a heap. "You shouldn't have tried that, Leigh." He kicked her in the stomach. She doubled over in pain; her eyes swam in and out of focus.   
  
"Tell me where he is!" he warned her.   
  
She shook her head.   
  
He picked her up off the floor by her shirt. He shoved her into the wall and hit her across the face again. A mix of blood and tears flowed across her cheeks.   
  
"You'll tell me now!"   
  
She felt sick. The pain overwhelmed her thoughts, but she knew that it would only get worse. A voice in her head told her to tell, to stop the pain, that she was not strong enough, and so tired.   
  
From his back pocket, Lyle withdrew a paperclip and straightened it. He grabbed her hair and twisted her head towards him. Lyle pressed it to her cheek. "Well?" he asked. She pulled away from him. He pushed the paperclip into her skin until a fine rivulet of blood poured from the wound. She cried out.   
  
Lyle threw her onto the floor and told the sweepers to finish for him. They moved forward in pleasure. One hooked his arms around hers to prevent her from moving. Another grabbed her legs. The third rolled up her shirt, partially exposing her stomach. He withdrew a small jackknife from his back pocket. She jolted in agony when it bit into her flesh.   
  
"Give up Leigh," Lyle said hypnotically, "There's no use in resisting."   
  
Leigh's mind raced. A genius, Sydney had called her, a genius with one option. Jarod.   
  
"A teacher," she said slowly, fighting the urge to wretch. "Your savant's a teacher in Andover."   
  
"Andover…"   
  
"Maine."   
  
Lyle kneeled down next to her. He held her chin so he stared directly into her eyes, which were gradually becoming wider with fear.   
  
"Thank you Sanchez," said Lyle menacingly, "That could have been easier for the both of us if you had volunteered that information faster." He turned to the sweepers, "Prepare for a fast departure and inform Sydney that he will be coming with us. You may finish with her, first."   
  
Leigh opened her mouth to protest, "I helped you! I told you!"   
  
"You'll learn to be more cooperative next time."   
  
She screamed when the sweeper flicked out the blade.   
  
  
  
The sweepers efficiently bandaged her wounds with a long white strip of gauze.   
  
She was quieter and more manageable when the sweepers directed her to the waiting helicopter. Just in case, Lyle had her drugged so she would stay that way. She was half-awake when they switched to a car at the Centre's private airstrip. Lyle thought about the hours to come. He would relish the time he would be with Jarod. He craved the power he would hold over the man who had mocked his intelligence and his authority. After so many years, he could finally see him brought back to his cell. To see Jarod, helplessly chained, back at the Centre, the man who had eluded him for so long. The thought of Jarod's recapture was almost too good. He still had business, and that meant catching him first. He had opted for bring two sweepers and Sydney. The first two were for the brute power, specifically capturing and containing. The latter was brought for his pleasure: making a fool out of Sydney. In addition, it would make the reunion all the more special. Although he brought Sydney, he made sure that Miss Parker was not going. She had come so close to catching Jarod. But where Parker failed, he would succeed.   
  
  
  
He had to.   
  



	4. The School

We All Fall Down 4 We All Fall Down 4 

*Author's note: This part is not the final version of it. I can't find that file at this present time. No major changes will occur, though. I will continually edit these and all stories I write; I'm compulsive that way. :) Sorry FOX and TnT... 

  
  
Chapter 4 The School   
  
  
  
The black that stretched out before her eyes and came to stark contrast as she blinked. She moaned in pain as she moved her aching body.   
  
Still slightly confused, she looked around. She saw sweepers sitting next to and across from her. To her right sat her tormentor; he stared fixedly at her. She looked away in disgusted and through her blurred vision, she saw a friend, Sydney.   
  
Lyle turned to her and held her head up so she could focus on him. She blinked to clear her eyesight and her thoughts as he started talking.   
  
"Leigh, I know you may have trouble thinking straight, you have only just awoken; but I need you to tell me where to go from here."   
  
She asked, slightly slurred, "Where, iz here?"   
  
"We are at the intersection near Andover Center. We are directly across from an old clothing shop and..."   
  
"A pizza, a pizza plaze," Leigh finished.   
  
"Yes," said Lyle, "That is correct."   
  
She closed her eyes and moaned, "No, no I can't."   
  
"Yes you can, Leigh, tell me!"   
  
"It hurts!" she shouted.   
  
Sydney tried to intervene, "Lyle, please-"   
  
"No, Sydney, you were not brought here for that," he lifted her head higher and studied her face, "Come on Leigh," he whispered.   
  
She jolted in a spasm as she tried to find the school, "Turn… right, stay on the left," a tear slipped down her soft cheek as she dug into Jarod's mind for the answers, "You'll find him at the school."   
  
He stroked her cheek as struggled to clear her head, "Thank you."   
  
* * *   
  
The limousine parked by the main entrance to the school. In front of them, to the side, was a huge stairway leading to several doors.   
  
The sweepers stepped out of the limo, pulling Sydney out with them. As Lyle started to get out, he motioned to Leigh to follow him. When she shook her head no, he grabbed the back of her shirt and dragged her out onto the concrete sidewalk. She slowly stood up and brushed herself off. She tensed to run, but Lyle caught on and slammed her bodily to the ground.   
  
He took off one of her handcuffs and snapped it to his own wrist, "Sanchez," he barked, "Strike two. Next time, you had better watch yourself around the Centre. It's a dangerous corporation to have unhappy with your performance," he slipped his gun off the holster, "And I can be a dangerous man to have with a gun pointed at your back. Do not mess with this, Sanchez. If you screw this up you may wish you hadn't for the rest of your life. Now, tell me where to go from here."   
  
"I'll show you."   
  
He pulled her up by the cuffs. The momentum carried her into him. He held her close for an instant too long before shoving her off and towards the stairs to lead the way. They walked that way up the stairs and through the doors into the heated haven of the hall. She pointed to another wide staircase in front of them. "That leads to the eighth grade wing, we're in the seventh grade wing now."   
  
"Where's Jarod?"   
  
"Science. Both grades' science rooms are down this hallway."   
  
"Lead the way."   
  
Leigh brought Lyle, the sweepers, and Sydney down the hall past a cluster of classrooms. They were dark and empty now, but Leigh could almost hear the kids chatting to each other. As if in the distance she heard papers rustling. A teacher talked in his loud, clear voice about the history of the Romans. She moved her head as if to banish the noises and continued until she reached two doors and yet another stairway.   
  
"The right's seventh, the left is eighth."   
  
"Which one is Jarod in?"   
  
"I don't know."   
  
"Which one!" Lyle hissed.   
  
"I don't know!" she snapped back.   
  
He heard rustling in the right classroom.   
  
"He's in seventh," he whispered to the sweepers.   
  
"How many other entrances lead to the classroom?"   
  
She just glared at him.   
  
"Tell me, Sanchez," he pushed her up to the wall.   
  
"Why can't you leave him alone?"   
  
"Sanchez, it's a bit late for this. Tell me now, or I'll order the sweepers to shoot him so he can't escape through any entrance."   
  
"There's one in the back which connects both science rooms," she mumbled.   
  
He relayed this to the sweepers. One stepped cautiously into the eighth grade room. The other covered the seventh grade door. A few seconds later, the second sweeper entered the seventh grade room. Leigh could hear Jarod leap from his chair and run to the back of the room only to have the first sweeper enter through the back, who forced him walk back to the desk he had been sitting at.   
  
Jarod's voice wavered as he asked, "How did you find me?"   
  
"Our cue."   
  
They entered the room. Jarod was taller and leaner than she had seen in the DSA's. He wore a gray shirt and tie with darker gray pants. His dark hair gleamed in the bright lights. He had amazing, intense brown eyes that shone with fearful reverence for his captors.   
  
Jarod's genius mind quickly calculated ways to escape. The windows behind him; it would be easy to break the glass and jump to the patch of bushes directly below…   
  
"Don't even think about escape, Jarod. You move an inch the wrong way and I'll shoot her myself."   
  
"Meet our new pretender: Leigh," Lyle explained, "She found you for us."   
  
She had pained blue eyes. A bandage wrapped around her stomach was still damp red from the Centre. Jarod gazed sadly at her bruised face.   
  
Leigh desperately tore herself from Lyle's grasp. She lunged away from him, only to jerk to a halt when the handcuffs linking them stopped her.   
  
"Jarod run!" she shouted.   
  
"It's okay," he whispered to her. Her heart broke as he allowed himself to be slammed against the wall by the sweepers who snapped handcuffs onto his wrists.   
  
"Is there no humanity left in your heart, Lyle?" he asked struggling with the sweepers who pulled him toward the door, "She's only a teenager."   
  
"Bring him to the limousine," Lyle said in annoyance to the two sweepers who shoved Jarod forward.   
  
  
  
* * *   
  
Guilt wracked her mind now. There he was, sitting only a foot away from her. Why had she? Questions sprang to the front of her mind, those sad, guilt-ridden ones nobody ever likes. The bastard who threatened to kill them both had won this battle. But the war wasn't over as long as she was kept at the Centre; she always had the option of escaping with Jarod. She'd show Lyle.   
  
He did not care what they had forced her to do. Lyle was smart enough to get answers from anyone. Those bruises across her face told him how. How could Lyle do that to her? She only looked fifteen. She also looked drugged and delirious.   
  
He tipped his head backward against the cushion, careful not to show the emotions that bombarded his conscious. He was tired of running, but he never wanted it to end this way. It was impossible for them to escape, not with Leigh linked to Lyle.   
  
He whispered to Sydney, still leaning back, "How long was she at the Centre?"   
  
"A few days," he responded.   
  
Jarod's heart sank. Those days were only the beginning.   
  
"What did he do to her?"   
  
"I do not know."   
  
"What is he going to do to her now?" he pressed.   
  
Sydney sighed, "Only time can tell that, Jarod, but certainly nothing good."   
  
"I was hoping you would not say that," he paused.   
  
"Why don't you just ask it now, Jarod."   
  
He knew him all too well Jarod thought, "Who will be my exploiter this time?"   
  
Sydney looked sadly at the younger man. The look was stronger then words.   
  
"No, not Lyle, I can still remember what he did to me at the Centre. He could be even worse with two pretenders."   
  
Lyle interrupted their conversation staring coldly at Jarod and Sydney, "I am glad you hold me in such high regards, Jarod."   
  
Lyle glared at Jarod, who returned the gaze, coolly and daring.   
  
"I have something that will make you like me even more," he stroked Leigh's hair as she tried to get as far away from him as possible.   
  
"Leave her alone," Jarod defended.   
  
"I do not take orders from you, Jarod. Willie," he said to the sweeper sitting next to Jarod, "Shut him up."   
  
"My pleasure Mr. Lyle," said the sweeper gruffly, as he produced a full syringe. Willie grabbed Jarod's arm tightly.   
  
"No!" he yelled, looking in horror at the sweeper, "Sydney please, help me!"   
  
"Yes Sydney, help him. Like always. Let him escape, Syd!" Lyle mocked.   
  
The sweeper injected Jarod.   
  
  
Sydney looked away.   
  



	5. Alcatraz

We All Fall Down 5 We All Fall Down 5 

*Author's note: This part only is the weirdest one I wrote to the story. This IS scifi. If you don't get a part, email me, I'll try to explain.   
  
This part is not the final version of it. I can't find that file at this present time. No major changes will occur, though. I will continually edit these and all stories I write; I'm compulsive that way. :) Sorry FOX and TnT...   
  
Chapter 5 Alcatraz   
  
  
  
The cell he was brought to was cold and dark. He was chained to the bed and "punished" nonstop. The sweepers seemed to enjoy beating him whenever he was not drugged or delirious from lack of food and the torture.   
  
  
  
"Jarod, you should have never left," Lyle told him.   
  
"I only wish I had sooner," Jarod spat back hoarsely.   
  
Lyle grabbed Jarod's neck with his black leather gloves, "You will tell us where the DSA's are."   
  
"I will never help you even if my life depended on it. And I'm too important to the Centre for you to kill me."   
  
"That option has not been considered yet, but the longer you fight us, the less likely you will stay alive."   
  
"The triumvirate would never…"   
  
"The triumvirate does not even know you are here yet. The longer they don't, the more likely it is that you won't die."   
  
Jarod continued sarcastically, "The longer I'm in debt to your 'kindness'."   
  
  
  
The sweepers came back after Lyle left. They punched him, kicked him, and mutilated him with their knives. Whenever he passed out, they used a stimulant, making sure he did not miss anything. He would lie there for as long as they stayed, submissive, knowing that if he fought, they would make it even worse. Instead, he receded to his subconscious, not letting the pain get to him. He tried to focus on something else, he thought about the girl, Parker, Sydney; he tried to focus on anything that could come to mind. The technique was hard to maintain, even for a pretender. He lost track of time. He imagined he was in Miss Parker's arms. He could almost smell her sweet perfume, feel her soft brown hair. He missed being with her, the innocence of their youth was long gone and all he had left was memories and the broken shell of his friend. Why did this have to happen to him?   
  
  
  
Leigh was left alone for the time being. She spent that time going over her room, searching for an escape route. There were no windows, vents, or anything except the door and she had no way of opening it. She had tried using the toothpick they gave her with each meal, but it was not strong enough. Eventually, they stopped giving her one anyway.   
  
The small room only contained a chair, bed, and a sink with a large counter-top. The counter-top was crowded with bottles and syringes. There were at least thirty different medications and chemicals, most of the names she did not recognize. Those that she did were either antidepressants or sleep drugs. She also noticed that most of them were almost empty. Several empty bottles had been tossed carelessly into the sink. They were all labeled monohetris. Lyle must have been using them on her. What was monohetris? As a sickening feeling crept into her stomach, she wished she had not been so curious.   
  
* * *   
  
Jarod crouched in the corner of his room, huddled in a ball. He desperately tried to ignore all of their games; stay strong against his foe. His will was failing, along with his sanity. His mind could scarcely deal with what was happening. He had lost his freedom, and was losing all that he had learnt in the world: individuality, right and wrong, and caring… He was almost tempted to just give in, and help the monsters of his childhood. The door opened, sliding him back to the present.   
  
Three sweepers entered his room. In contrast to their dirty job, each sweeper always wore a suit. They were professional motivators, hunters, and, if need be, hitman. They had hunted him these past years.   
  
"Hey, Jarod," said the sweeper Sam.   
  
"Leave me alone," he growled.   
  
"Not this time, Jarod, not until you help us. Then all I will be is the past."   
  
Sam enjoyed the torture that he inflicted on Jarod. He had the body of a professional football player, muscular and broad-shouldered. Before Jarod escaped he never was hard to motivate; one look at the powerful man would scare him. Now that fear changed, Sam was no longer a child's monster in the closet. Sam was real; the pain was real; his fear was for the anticipation of that pain and the thought that he could not stop it. But now Jarod was stronger, smarter, and more defiant. He would have his revenge.   
  
He stood up and faced Sam, staring him right in the eye. Sam stared back with a cool demeanor. Jarod could do nothing to him and they both know it. All he could do was struggle and it seemed like he was not in the mood for that today.   
  
"Alright Jarod, we'll play it your way."   
  
Sam drew back his fist and punched Jarod in the stomach. Jarod winced, but kept staring at Sam. Sam drew his hand back again and again, but Jarod did not blink. Sam threw him against the wall. Jarod crumpled to the floor.   
  
"Another round of stims," Sam ordered the other sweeper.   
  
  
  
Leigh sat and waited. She had nothing to do. Lyle left her alone during the day to deal with Jarod. She had studied the bottles of monohetris in vain, searching for a clue as to what it was. There was two full bottles of it left on the sink. She could have just broken them, but Lyle would have come back with more. The unnerving thing about them was that every time she awoke in the morning there was less in them than the night before. Lyle must make his house calls while she slept.   
  
"Sydney," she said, "Sydney, are you still listening?"   
  
What's the use? she thought, he still isn't there.   
  
"Sydney, if you're there, please answer me!" she shouted.   
  
After a moments pause, she heard a voice over the intercom.   
  
"I am here, Leigh."   
  
"What is Lyle doing to me? What is monohetris? What is he doing to Jarod?"   
  
"Leigh, calm down. I do not know what monohetris is, but I will discuss it with my colleagues."   
  
  
  
"What did she say, Syd?" asked Miss Parker.   
  
"She wants to know about Jarod, and what Lyle is doing to her."   
  
"She doesn't know where Jarod is then?"   
  
"I doubt it."   
  
"Why was Lyle keeping me from him?" Miss Parker wondered. "I spent four years searching for him, why the hell won't he let me see him?"   
  
"Miss Parker, Lyle will let you see him."   
  
* * *   
  
Someone was in her room. That someone was Lyle. Ice blue eyes burned through her soul. Lyle injected a syringe full of a clear liquid into her neck. She closed her eyes.   
  
* * *   
  
When the sweepers left his room, Jarod uncovered the paper clip he had stole from them. He carefully undid the handcuffs and crouched down in front of the locked door handle.   
  
  
  
What was that drug? Leigh wondered. She had found one of the last two bottles empty. Lyle must have given her the rest of it last night. She worried about Sydney. He seemed like he was thinking about something else.   
  
She heard a knock on her door, which surprise her. Lyle never knocks, she thought, could it be Sydney? She heard a rustle in the lock, a click, and then Jarod walked cautiously into her room.   
  
"How?" she started.   
  
"Shhh…" he whispered, and walked over to the sink. He searched around, smiled slyly, then pulled a small camera out of the wall.   
  
"You okay?" he asked, concerned.   
  
"Yes, I'm fine," she noticed the bruises across his face. "What did they do to you?"   
  
He looked down solemnly, "They want to know where the DSA's I had were," he said sadly.   
  
"I am sorry they did this to you."   
  
"It's okay, it's not your fault."   
  
"But I told Lyle where you were."   
  
"It's okay, Leigh. I know what he did to you. But we can get out of here. I have escaped before."   
  
She stared off into space for a moment; she started to say something, but stopped. Jarod looked at her, worried.   
  
"Are you going to be all right?"   
  
She glanced at him. What was it? She felt…   
  
"Lyle."   
  
"What about him?"   
  
"I, I'm not…" she paused again, "I think…"   
  
"It's okay, you can tell me."   
  
"I can feel him, he's" she brushed her hair back in frustration, then stopped in realization, "Lyle's back!"   
  
The door banged open. Lyle appeared and he glowered at Jarod, "Jarod, what the hell are you doing here?"   
  
Jarod looked from Lyle to Leigh in shock. How had she known Lyle was coming?   
  
Lyle tackled Jarod onto the bed, shoving Leigh to the floor. Jarod twisted around, but Lyle punched him in the face and sweepers who had been standing in the doorway dove into the fray. They punched him until he stopped struggling. They lifted him off the bed, forcing him to stand. When he collapsed in their arms, one of the sweepers lashed out at him with a sharp knee to his stomach. Jarod doubled over in pain two sweepers held his arms to keep him from falling. He allowed himself to be dragged out of the room without any more trouble. Lyle and a sweeper dragged Leigh out, too, and brought her to another room with extremely dim lighting. The sweeper held her down on the floor and Lyle left the room. A while later, they dragged Jarod in. They had taken off his shirt and had attached electrodes to his chest and forehead.   
  
She squinted against the dark and caught sight of a strange chair across from her. Several people were standing around it. The sweepers lifted Jarod into it and strapped him to it. His head fell forward so they wrapped a band under his chin to hold it up. Lyle pulled Leigh towards him. It was rigged like an electric chair.   
  
"No," she gasped. She had to help him. But how?   
  
Lyle spoke to her, "Leigh, Jarod needs to be taught a little lesson in Centre protocol."   
  
A man spoke up behind him.   
  
"Mr. Lyle," he murmured respectfully, "Please don't hurt him…"   
  
"Broots," Lyle snapped.   
  
"Jarod," Lyle said.   
  
Jarod moaned, his head moved weakly. He closed his eyes.   
  
Leigh closed her eyes. She had to help him. But how? Of course, the only way she knew. Her mind dove into his. It was happening too fast, she thought, panicking.   
  
Jarod opened his eyes. She saw Broots and Lyle standing nearby. Lyle was holding on to   
  
Shit, she thought, it was herself.   
  
She had never tried to see herself through other's eyes. She looked like hell.   
  
Leigh could barely feel Jarod's mind. As powerful as it had proved to be, he was quiet, now, and did not resist to her controlling him. She knew she had better do something. It occurred to her that if his mind was completely shut off, he would not feel the pain of the electrocution. Maybe Lyle would not try to kill him, but just try to hurt him, instead. If so, she could put him in a coma or something, so he could be protected from Lyle's evil plans. She imagined it as if she was chopping wood; she raised the imaginary ax and brought it down, severing consciousness. She did so, just as Lyle had turned on the machine. This shot her painfully back to her own body. Unused to such a forceful end to a Reading, she fainted from the shock.   
  
Jarod's body moved in spasms, but he did not awaken. Broots leapt over to the machine and turned it off. He stared in horror at the scene. Jarod was strapped to the electric chair, unmoving and unconscious; Leigh lay sprawled out on the floor at Lyle's feet. He moved to Jarod and took his pulse.   
  
"He's bbarely alive, Mr. Lyle. You have to get him to tthe inffirmary," he stammered.   
  
Lyle nodded and told the sweepers to bring him there. He bent over and turned Leigh onto her back. He shook her.   
  
"Leigh? You awake?"   
  
When she did not respond, he picked her up gently and carried her down the hall to her room. Broots followed and asked, "What happened to her?"   
  
"The monohetris worked."   
  
"What is that stuff?"   
  
Lyle put her on her bed. They walked out of her room and Lyle locked the door. "It stimulates the part of her brain used to Read people."   
  
"Why?" Broots asked, "Why would you do that to her?"   
  
"So we can test her limits. She does not know what she is capable of doing. With pressure, she may exceed where others would fail. You do remember that when Jarod was tested, he could only Read thoughts, but Leigh can Read images. She could steal patent ideas, trade secrets, anything we want her to. She put Jarod into a coma. Can you imagine what someone like her could do if she could get into people's minds? World leaders, presidents, anyone!"   
  
"But you're using her to do this against her will, she will catch onto what you are doing."   
  
"Who cares if she does?"   
  
"Sydney," Broots reminded him.   
  
* * *   
  
There were five new bottles sitting on the counter staring at her. She stared back. She knew what they were, but what they did was still a mystery to her. Did it have something to do with Jarod's return? Her cooperation in that? Damn the questions, she needed answers, but her source had gone away again. Why wouldn't he respond? What had happened to Sydney? The answers were locked in Lyle's mind, she had the key, but was she willing to use it? No, she could not. She was terrified of him, and what his thoughts would reveal.   
  
Maybe someone else knew. Not Jarod, for he had seen the bottles, but hadn't said anything about them. Sydney? Had he found out what it was?   
  
"Sydney?" she begged, "Answer me!"   
  
"Sorry, he can't come to the intercom right now," Leigh gasped as she recognized the voice over the speaker, "can I take a message?"   
  
"Lyle," she said sarcastically, "So you found the source. Took ya long enough."   
  
  
  
He tore the speaker system out of the wall at Sydney's desk. She had that way of getting to him… He swept his arm across the desk, scattering papers and disks. Oh, was she gonna get it.   
  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	6. Dreams

We All Fall Down 6

We All Fall Down 6

We All Fall Down

*Author's note: This part is not the final version of it. No major changes will occur, though. I will post the final draft soon. Sorry FOX and TnT... 

Chapter 6 Dreams   
  
Leigh woke with a start the next day. Lyle was towering over her. He stared at her with grim satisfaction.   
  
"It seems as though I have been too lenient in letting you get away with some things."   
  
"Lenient," she scoffed.   
  
He ignored her comment and said, "This time, I won't go through the long and boring process of getting you to tell me what I need to know when I don't even have to ask."   
  
"Like hell I'll wake him up, Lyle. It was you who tried to kill him."   
  
He picked her up and led her out of the door. "You see, the Centre is about respect and cooperation. If you respect and cooperate with me, you will be rewarded with good treatment. Sort of like when Jarod was first here."   
  
"He only respected you out of fear and the lack of hope."   
  
"I don't care how."   
  
They stopped in front of a door. She waited for him to unlock it, but when she turned towards him, he was staring intently at her. "Respect me, Leigh, and you will not be harmed."   
  
She looked away when he leaned over her. She took several steps away from him and banged against the wall. Her breaths became faster when he brushed his hand over her face.   
  
"Respect, that's all I am asking for. Look at me when I speak to you Leigh."   
  
She glanced at his dark gray suit. Her eyes shifted nervously over his tie, collar and breast pocket. She avoided his eyes and face.   
  
"Respect me Leigh. Look me in the eyes when I speak to you."   
  
She abruptly closed her eyes. He leaned closer to her. He could smell her sweat and fear. He whispered in her ear: "Leigh, don't make me ask you twice."   
  
She let out a staggered breath and stared into his deep blue eyes. Her knees buckled under her, but he caught her before she fell. He looked at her thoughtfully in his arms.   
  
"You haven't Read me yet," he said bluntly; it was not a question. He opened the door to the room and carefully leaned her into a chair. He strapped her to it and continued.   
  
"Why?"   
  
"I'd rather not pick up tips on how to murder people."   
  
"Your sarcasm is simply amazing."   
  
He touched her cheek. She closed her eyes, imagining he wasn't.   
  
"So let's wake up Jarod, shall we?"   
  
"No, I am protecting him from your destruction. He's a human being."   
  
"Leigh, I don't need to ask you whether or not you want to or are willing to Read him. I have already told you, Jarod invented a way to make you Read people. But if you willingly do so, you won't suffer possible brain damage from the effects of the program. So, Sanchez, you decide," he taunted mercilessly. "Most of test subjects had seizures or hemorrhages. They were left with as much brain function as a two-year old," his voiced drifted off with an eerie effect.   
  
"You made them that way," she protested.   
  
"You really haven't seen the good side of the Centre, have you. We have come up with ideas and designs for things that you take for granted today. Jarod was our best pretender, and all we want to do is to have him start working again."   
  
"You've kidnapped me, experimented on me, beaten me, drugged me, exploited my Reading ability, and you have done even worse to Jarod and you think I should even believe there is a good side to the Centre? What do you expect? Understanding? Forgiveness? Lyle, you're crazy."   
  
"And you would be crazy not to willingly reverse his coma. Why risk it, Sanchez? It won't help. You will Read him one way or another, you know that."   
  
She took a deep breath, held it. "I wish I never had this ability," she whispered as she closed her eyes. Her mind went off to awaken Jarod.   
  
When she was done, she opened her eyes. Lyle was sitting across from her.   
  
"Did you do it?" he asked.   
  
"Yes," she sighed, "He is awake now."   
  
"Good," he turned around to the door.   
  
"Lyle, what is the stuff you're giving me?"   
  
He stopped, and turned around to face her. He asked: "What stuff?"   
  
"Monohetris, I know you've been giving it to me and I want to know what it is."   
  
"I am sorry, Leigh," he walked to the door, "That's…"   
  
"No, wait Lyle, you have to tell me, you at least owe me that."   
  
He turned to her, "Leigh, I don't owe you anything. The Centre owns you now, so get used to it."   
  
He walked out of the room.   
  
  
  
Jarod awoke back in his room with no idea what had happened. He remembered escaping to Leigh's room and talking with her. Then Lyle and lights, an explosion of color and pain, probably from the sweepers' assault.   
  
Jarod looked around keenly. This time Lyle was smart for a change, Jarod's hands were restrained against the wall, separated. He hated the lack of control over himself. He never knew when he would wake up and where. The stress, fear and pure exhaustion haunted his every moment, even when he was free. It was a sick relief knowing that he did not have to run anymore. A sick relief that he was… home?   
  
  
  
Lyle entered his room.   
  
"Hey Jarod, glad to see you awake again."   
  
Jarod scowled at Lyle.   
  
"Why," he growled, "So your lackeys can beat me again?"   
  
"No, Jarod, this time we are going to talk about something you seem to have forgotten."   
  
  
  
Leigh struggled against the brace. She had to leave, now, or Lyle would hurt Jarod again. She finally managed to get one of her arms free. She tore off the rest of the bindings with speed born from desperation and ran to the door, locked. Damn it! She had to find something to pick it with. She looked around the room. There were two chairs, a table and an office desk with papers on it, papers. She rushed over to the desk and searched through the papers until she found what she was looking for. She pulled a paperclip out of the pile. She bent it until it fit into the lock. In a couple of seconds the door unlocked with a relieving click. She opened it and cautiously stepped out into the cold, dark and sterile hall. She closed her eyes and tried to find where Jarod was. A sign near his room said 3-508. Level 3, room 508. She turned around; the sign by her room said 3-527. She walked carefully down the hall until she found his room. Lyle was inside.   
  
She saw him yell at Jarod, who was sitting on the bed, resisting the calamity of the words. Lyle struck him across the face. Jarod didn't budge. Lyle yelled at him again.   
  
"You do remember!"   
  
When Jarod shook his head Lyle shoved him against the wall choking him with his arm.   
  
"Don't bother lying to me, Jarod, I know you too well."   
  
Lyle backed away, spread his arms and said, "You were thrilled to use it, 'your greatest invention,' you had said."   
  
Jarod stood up in defiance; "You made me. One of the drugs you forced to be added is a truth drug."   
  
Lyle laughed, and continued, "What, did Raines tell you that? Test drug number 77-alpha is tap-fresh water."   
  
"No," Jarod said hopelessly and fell weakly to his knees. He hung his head in shame.   
  
Lyle kept on talking and pointed at Jarod who covered his ears and shook his head.   
  
"You did it," Lyle shouted clearly, "You found her, and she found you. She would have been at the Centre anyway if you had not escaped!"   
  
Leigh froze.   
  
"No," Jarod moaned, "You made me!"   
  
Lyle grabbed his hair so Jarod looked at him. "You will learn respect again, Jarod, both of you will learn it."   
  
Lyle turned towards the door just as Leigh ducked out of sight. When he opened the door and she hid behind it. He strode off angrily down the hall; and she entered Jarod's room. He was still kneeling on the floor, covering his face.   
  
"Leave me alone, Lyle, just leave me alone."   
  
When she didn't move, he got up. He turned and lunged at her and barely stopped from hitting her when he realized that she wasn't Lyle.   
  
"Leigh," he said surprised, "How did you get in here?"   
  
She opened her hand. In it he saw a bent paperclip.   
  
"Let's go," he said. They hurried out of the room.   
  
"Which way did Lyle go?" he asked her.   
  
"To the left."   
  
He turned to the right and they walked down the hall. When they reached an intersection, he cautiously looked down the other halls. He kept going straight. She cautiously crossed, too, and sped up to him. After they had walked a while, she asked him:   
  
"What were you talking to Lyle about?"   
  
"He reminded me of something I should never have forgotten."   
  
She heard a voice behind her. When she stopped to look, Jarod pulled her forward urgently and ran ahead.   
  
"Jarod!" someone shouted.   
  
She ran.   
  
"Jarod, Leigh, stop!" Lyle yelled as he raced after them.   
  
Jarod grabbed her hand and pulled her down another hallway, which was smaller than the other one. They could hear Lyle turning into the same corridor.   
  
"Stop!" he yelled to them.   
  
Lyle pulled out his gun and stopped running. He fired at them. Bang! The first shot flew past them. So did the second and the third. When Leigh heard the fourth being fired, Jarod tumbled, fell and pulled her down, too. Lyle ran up to them. Jarod's side was bleeding. He moaned in pain and pushed himself up against the wall. Jarod clawed at the grate that was near him, trying pull himself up into a sitting position. Leigh rolled over onto her stomach to get up.   
  
"Don't move," Lyle said as he pointed the gun at them.   
  
Leigh glanced at Jarod.   
  
Lyle kneeled to inspect Jarod's wound. "The grate," she mouthed to Jarod. He nodded at her understanding. Leigh pushed herself up. Lyle turned to her and pulled out a syringe.   
  
He started to inject a sedative into her arm, "I said…" he began.   
  
Jarod ripped the grate off the wall. Lyle turned to the sound, but Jarod slammed it into Lyle's head before he could react. Lyle collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Leigh cried out when the needle still in Lyle's grasp tore through her arm.   
  
She grabbed her shoulder to stop the bleeding.   
  
"Can you make it?" Leigh asked Jarod.   
  
He stood up, using the wall for balance. "Yeah," he said, wincing in pain, "How much did he give you?"   
  
She picked up the syringe delicately, "Over half," she said. Jarod took it from her and inject the rest into Lyle's arm.   
  
"Okay, let's get out of here," he motioned to the air-vent.   
  
  
  
Jarod moved through the vents like he knew them well. They crawled as quietly as possible through the dizzying maze of pipes and wires. He turned left, right, right, left, right… after awhile, he went up. They went up through three levels. Then he opened a hatch above them. They stepped out into sunlight.   
  
Leigh looked around. It seemed so long since she had been outside, free.   
  
They turned down a path, which eventually led to a small dirt road. Jarod was having difficulty making his way between the rocks and roots that carpeted the ground. Leigh made her way behind him, guiding him. When he tripped over a dead log, she reached out to steady him. When he regained his balance, she let go. Her hand was covered in blood.   
  
"Jarod!" she said in alarm.   
  
He stumbled on a loose rock and fell, doubling over in pain. He winced and tried to get up, but fell down again.   
  
She kneeled next to him, half falling in exhaustion.   
  
"Oh, God, Jarod."   
  
He gasped in pain, "Leigh," he whispered, "Go, go…" and closed his eyes. "No," she yelled, "Jarod, please get up!" She was beginning to feel dizzy. The sedative, she realized. No, I have to stay awake!   
  
She pressed her hands to his side. Blood flowed freely from the injury. She tried to stop it. She collapsed over him.   
  
No, she thought, Jarod, I'm so sorry.   
  
She fell asleep.   
  
* * *   
  
"Le-ee, WAKE UP," Lyle shouted in her face.   
  
She jerked awake. He stood over her and slowly brushed a stray lock of her hair out of her face. His leather gloves were soft on her skin.   
  
"Glad you are back."   
  
He moved his hand over her cheek and brushed his thumb over her lips, staring deep into her eyes.   
  
She looked away from his mesmerizing glare, "Jarod! What did you do with him?"   
  
"Shh… its not his turn yet, Leigh, but it is yours," he said, straightening up where he stood, "See, we are going to take a run through Jarod's game; and you can have a front-row seat."   
  
She tried to turn around in the chair, only to be stopped by the all-to-familiar bindings encompassing her body. Lyle picked up a syringe and bottle and withdrew some of the liquid.   
  
She screamed in terror and sadness. But it felt… 


	7. Freedom

We All Fall Down 7 We All Fall Down 5 

*Author's note: This IS scifi. If you don't get a part, email me, I'll try to explain.   
  
This part is not the final version of it. I can't find that file at this present time. No major changes will occur, though. I will continually edit these and all stories I write; I'm compulsive that way. :) Sorry FOX and TnT...   
  
Chapter 7 Freedom   
  
  
  
  
  
"She is waking up."   
  
Leigh moaned. She tried to open her eyes, but there was a blinding light… Turn it off, she thought. As her vision cleared, the light dimmed into reality.   
  
"No," she cried, flailing about, "I won't let you hurt Jarod!"   
  
Several people moved over to her bed and held her down. A man of at least 60, who was standing next to her bed, backed off a little and said, "So that's what your friend's name is." She stopped struggling against doctors and nurses. It had been a dream, they had really escaped; she realized and asked, "Where am I?"   
  
The man responded, "You are at St. Mary's hospital."   
  
"Who are you?"   
  
"My name is James Derbery, I found both of you out by the side of the road. Your friend looked pretty bad."   
  
"Is he okay?" she asked.   
  
"Yeah," he paused, "He's gonna be just fine. Why were you two out there in the middle of nowhere?"   
  
"We had escaped from the Centre."   
  
"You mean that big cooperation just out of Blue Cove?"   
  
"Yeah."   
  
"I've heard about the place. Don't they do experiments and stuff?"   
  
"Stuff alright. Why am I in the hospital?"   
  
A doctor interrupted James. "Are you taking any medication or drugs of any kind?"   
  
"Not voluntarily."   
  
"What have you been given?"   
  
"Monohetris."   
  
"Monohetris? That's a new one. Do you know what it is?"   
  
"It's some kind of drug. I don't know, they were giving it to me."   
  
"Do you know how much?"   
  
"At least 10 cc's a day. Why am I here?" she persisted.   
  
"It's nothing major, while you were unconscious, you reacted violently to several supplements. You should be fine now," he assured her.   
  
"Oh," she said, "Is Jarod gonna be okay?"   
  
James continued for the doctor, "Your friend took quite a beating out there. He looked like he was shot in the side at pretty close range. He did not look too good when I found you two."   
  
The doctor said, "He was barely stable…"   
  
"Well, is he going to be alright or not?"   
  
"He probably won't awaken for several days. Between his injury and the loss of blood, he may not wake up at all."   
  
Leigh felt like all the wind had been knocked out of her. To escape to freedom seemed empty without Jarod. "No," she yelled in frustration, "That's not fair!"   
  
"I'm sorry, we have done all we…"   
  
"No!" she screamed.   
  
She jumped off the bed. James grabbed her and turned her to him.   
  
"Miss," he said, "There is nothing you can do."   
  
"Jarod," she cried, tears streamed down her face.   
  
"It's okay, shh, it's okay. What's your name?"   
  
"Leigh, Leigh Sanchez," she gasped out.   
  
"Leigh, the doctors have done everything they can, for now you have to trust them."   
  
He wiped the tears from her face, "It's okay," he whispered.   
  
  
  
The next day, the doctor came into her room.   
  
"Leigh," he said, "You can leave now."   
  
"To where?" she asked dolefully.   
  
"We can contact your parents.   
  
"My parents are dead," she thought of Ms. Jameson, but she knew that she wanted to help Jarod. "Jarod's my guardian."   
  
"You can stay here, then, or Mr. Derbery has offered to take you home with him. He says he will take care of both you and Jarod, if he gets better."   
  
"Alright."   
  
* * *   
  
"You can stay in this room."   
  
Leigh stared into a bright, cheery bedroom. It matched the rest of the farmhouse with walls of polished wood. The bed looked cozy with a handmade quilt draped across it. There was an old dresser by the bed with a yellow-shaded lamp on it. A bookcase with antique books packed into it sat across from the bed.   
  
"Thank you," she said kindly.   
  
"Well, I'll leave you to get settled."   
  
Leigh walked around the room. It had a lovely warm feeling, like a true home. She glanced at the book titles, and brushed her hand across the quilt.   
  
"We can go shopping for clothes tomorrow."   
  
"Okay," she started to cry again.   
  
He moved over to her, pulling her to the bed so she sat next to him. "It's okay," he said, "Jarod will be okay."   
  
  
  
The next day they returned to the hospital. The nurses directed them to Jarod's room. He looked so pitiful and helpless lying on the dreary bed. Leigh pulled up a chair and sat next to him. She gazed into his face covered in tube. She held his warm hand. He looked so pale next to the stark machinery keeping him alive.   
  
"Jarod, please wake up," she whispered.   
  
The steady beep of the monitors echoed in the dull room.   
  
  
  
They went to the hospital every day. Every day Leigh sat by his bedside. Though he showed no obvious signs, the nurses said that his condition he was improving. One day when they came in, the nurses looked unusually bright.   
  
"He is awake!" one said to her.   
  
Leigh raced to his room. He was lying down on the bed. When he heard her rush in he propped himself up with his elbow.   
  
"Leigh!" he said happily.   
  
"Jarod!"   
  
"Alive and ready for action! Have you been staying here, too?" he asked.   
  
"Ahh, no, the man who found us offered to take care of us."   
  
"How long has it been?"   
  
"Almost two weeks."   
  
He sat up in surprise and fear. "We have to leave here now. The Centre may have found where we are."   
  
"But you aren't well enough…"   
  
"I'll be fine. We got to get away from here. I could take you back to your home in Montana."   
  
"I'd rather be with you, Jarod."   
  
* * *   
  
"So where we goin'?" Leigh asked as the small rental car sped up.   
  
"How about we just drive."   
  
They did so for days. Racing across the countryside going nowhere, anywhere. To Leigh, it almost seemed like he had a direction, but none that she could see. They stopped often at hotels or small towns. Jarod seemed interested in helping others whenever possible. Sometimes, his help became very complicated. She soon realized why the Centre valued him so much. He could become anyone.   
  
He had helped many people in his quest. He showed her several badges and nametags from government offices, hospitals, and other agencies after they had boldly retrieved them from where he was captured. He also took a laptop and several cases of disks, DSAs. He did not show them to her when she had asked.   
  
He did show her a notebook he had. It was full of news stories and clipping. He told her that these were some of people he had helped.   
  
"How do you do it?" she asked him one day.   
  
"What?" he asked her.   
  
"Everything! You have done so much for so many people, but how are you so good at it?"   
  
He stared hard to the road that stretched endlessly before them. "It's a long story." He glanced at his watch, "How about we stop for dinner, it is getting late." Without waiting for her response, he flicked the blinkers on and turned off of the highway. They pulled into a deserted little Chinese place. Green plastic décor pronounced the cheesy look. They took a seat at a booth as a young waitress filled their water glasses and took their order.   
  
Leigh hesitated before bringing up the subject again, knowing how hard it was for Jarod to talk about his past. He sighed and closed his eyes. "I was trained for 30 years at the Centre. Every day, of every year Sydney presented scenarios for me to complete. They had me 'pretend' I was there, at where ever they wanted me to be. I would solve whatever needed solving; build whatever needed building; plan whatever they needed planned. Kidnappings, terrorist attacks, murders, cover-ups, bombings…" his voice trailed off to a solemn whisper, "Whatever they needed. I guess it just comes as a second nature now."   
  
He glanced at her and continued, "It's alright now. That is why I escaped, to right the wrongs they forced on me. The day that we escaped, Lyle had reminded me…"   
  
"You had found me."   
  
He sighed, "Yes. I had. They had told me one day that they were trying to find someone like me. I was almost 21. You would have been about five. They started to train me on how to Read people. It was probably the first thing I wasn't very good at," he laughed slightly, but his expression quickly became grim again, "I became very frustrated with it. Syd and others tried hard to teach me it completely, but I could only get a sense of the person. I had to know how to Read completely or I could not find another pretender. So the Centre had me create a program of drugs to help. It combines different drugs that force one's mind to Read."   
  
"Mr. Lyle had said you created it and that it could injure the person subject to it."   
  
Jarod nodded, playing with his food. "It can, but only if something happens that causes the subject to go into shock, like something they see or hear. Even still, that is very rare. Several of the first tests were very excruciating and dangerous to the subjects. They were scared and had no idea what was happening. I volunteered to do it because I was used to Reading, but Sydney tried to stop me. The Centre disregarded his warnings and had Mr. Raines assist me. The experiment was successful. I found you, but I did not know what the Centre planned to do with you. I do know that they played a part in the death of your parents, though."   
  
Leigh gasped. Her mouth went dry, "Why would they want to do that?"   
  
"The Centre wanted no ties when they were to retrieve you. They found my parents to be difficult to deal with when I was kidnapped."   
  
"Did they…?"   
  
"Kill them, no. They are still alive. I have spent my time out of the Centre trying to find them. My family is trying to outrun the Centre, though, so I cannot find them."   
  
Jarod stopped abruptly when the waitress returned, asking if everything was fine. When she left, Leigh looked ruefully down at her plate. "They, they killed… My parents, they killed, oh God. And I helped them?"   
  
Jarod reached out across the table, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. You did what you could. I don't want you to feel that this was your fault. Lyle would have found a way."   
  
They finished their meal in silence.   
  
Leigh picked up her fortune cookie, breaking in half.   
  
The small piece of paper inside curled slightly when she took it out. "Your lucky numbers," it said, "13 22 9 17 **_Freedom does not set all free_ **."   
  
She stared at the odd phrase for a moment, folded the paper, and shoved it in her pocket. She glanced at Jarod, who was still puzzling over his own. "A little piece of paper in a cookie, huh."   
  
"Americanism, that custom isn't even Chinese."   
  
Jarod paid the bill, tipping the waitress generously, and started the car.   
  
"Could I try?" Leigh asked suddenly, "I could Read where your parents are like I did when I found you."   
  
"Please."   
  
"Tell me what you remember about them."   
  
He turned the car onto a side road. "I could tell you about them on the way to a place I know."   
  
* * *   
  
They turned onto an old dirt road. It wound around a small pond. Jarod stopped in front of a rickety, old summer cottage. It was an earthy brown with white faded sidings. He stepped out of the car. Leigh followed him into an old kitchen with a patterned linoleum floor that was no longer as flat as it used to be.   
  
"One of my friends I met when I had escaped invited me to come here as I pleased." He asked her earnestly, "Do you think that you could find them?"   
  
"I'll try."   
  
She walked into another room that had an olive green couch. When she sat down, she could smell the years of dust and mothballs that had attached its odor to the couch. She closed her eyes. She couldn't focus on anyone.   
  
"Jarod," she said, "I can't find them. I don't think I know enough about them. Most of what you told me was just facts. Do you know any personal details?"   
  
"I… I can't really say. I don't know anything else about them. It was so long ago."   
  
She closed her eyes again. This time she focused more on Jarod.   
  
"It's hard to describe…" he continued.   
  
She tried to understand what he wanted her to know. She searched through his memories of them, trying to find something she could go on. The memories were so few…   
  
"Leigh?" he walked unsteadily into the room, "What's happening?" An image flashed before his eyes, of a thick hood. He leaned over her and studied her face. "Leigh, what are you doing?" He saw the hood again. Its netted cotton felt gruff on his skin. He put up his arms to shield his face, but the visions continued; he could barely breathe.   
  
Jarod blinked dizzied, and stumbled backwards. He crouched defensively, cradling his head in his hands. "No, stop, please Leigh, stop." He tried to block out the image. It was so real. He clawed maniacally at the air, trying to erase the image, the feel and the smell of the hood smothering his every cry, his every thought. He felt a jolt of electricity travel down his spine and he froze, his whole body paralyzed.   
  
"Stop!" he yelled at her. His voice seemed muffled and hoarse. Something was wrong. He felt cold metal surrounding his body. Cold, unyielding chains that rattled at every move of his aching body. He surged backwards against the back wall. A photograph that clung to the wall fell, crashing to the floor. Glass sprayed across his body. Another vision, clouded, confusing. A syringe was held to his face, he heard his name spoken. A fist slammed against his stomach.   
  
"Leigh, stop, something's wrong! Please, Leigh, listen!" The pressure, the vision, it was wrong. He pleaded with her, but she couldn't hear him. Pain wracked his body. He shook his head as if to send her out physically. The rest of his body shook violently. He writhed on the floor, screaming, "No! Let me go!" He threw back his head and screamed.   
  
Leigh opened her eyes. She stared in horror at Jarod.   
  
  
  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	8. Visions

We All Fall Down 8 We All Fall Down 8 

*Author's note: I will continually edit these and all stories I write; I'm compulsive that way. Sorry I took so long. Sorry FOX and TnT...   
  
Chapter 8 Visions   
  
  
  
"I don't know what happened, Leigh. I was reliving parts of my life, and the memories were so real. Has this ever happened to anyone you have Read before?" He did not mention what the memory contained.   
  
She stared off into space. She had never done anything like this before, and she hated to cause anyone pain.   
  
"No, this has never happened before. It felt the same as any other time. But it was so fast and all I could focus on was you. Almost like there was no one else in the world."   
  
"Do you know how to slow down?"   
  
"No, ever since I was brought to the Centre, Readings have gotten faster, easier and more detailed. I can do more with them than I ever could before."   
  
I can do more than I ever could before… He had said that once, too. 10 years ago, after his first test. "Speed was essential," he could hear Raines say.   
  
Speed…   
  
"What is it, what happened?"   
  
He shrugged, "I don't know."   
  
She gazed at him, what wasn't he telling her?   
  
"I can find your parents with what I Read, I think. To play it safe, I don't think I'll Read them directly, but just try to get a feel of where they are about and go from there."   
  
"Alright. Then lets get some sleep and you can try again tomorrow. You can take the bed upstairs. I'll sleep on the couch."   
  
"'Kay, night Jarod."   
  
He watched her walk up the steep steps. When he saw the light go out he sat down on the couch and closed his eyes, relaxing.   
  
"Alright, Lyle," he murmured, "I'll play."   
  
  
  
They moved on the next morning, following a hunch. She hoped she was right. She couldn't tell exactly where they were, but she had a guess. Somewhere in South Carolina, near the coast. She could hear the rolling waves and feel the soft, warm breeze. It was a small town, nothing that attracted too much attention.   
  
Every new town brought hope, every old town, despair. After years of searching, being so close, yet so far, was hard. They moved into a larger town named Canterbury. They set up "camp" at an aging apartment house. Leigh enrolled in the local high school and Jarod took up a job at the local police station at night. During the day, they used small microphones and speakers to talk to each other. She felt safer knowing he was always connected to her. When their self-instituted time of one month at this town drew near its end, Leigh's English teacher fell ill, and a substitute took over the class.   
  
It was right after their lunch period, and Leigh walked into the class with a group of newfound friends. The sub seemed familiar to Leigh. She asked them who the sub was. Her friends rolled their eyes and said, "Mrs. Haley, she's strict."   
  
"And mean," one added.   
  
"And she has good hearing," Mrs. Haley interrupted, "Now students, if you take your seats, we shall begin."   
  
  
  
Leigh had Science after English. Her teacher was a bright and cheery, old man named Mr. Meissinger. Halfway through a discussion, Leigh sensed something was wrong. It was an odd eerie feeling she didn't like. It was as if someone was watching her.   
  
She told Jarod about it over the microphone. She felt it on the way back to the apartment, too. The next morning she walked slowly onto the bus. She sat down in her seat and sank deep into the cold cushion. She was staring off into space, when the same feeling hit her like a tidal wave. One of the kids in front of her turned around. He wasn't a kid. It was Lyle. Only she could see him as he faced her, his eyes closed. She stared at him in disbelief. He opened his eyes. His blue eyes were bright red. She blinked, and he disappeared.   
  
  
  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 

[][1]Comments/ Questions  
[Part 9: We All Fall Down PG_13][2]

[BACK][3]

  


   [1]: mailto:whitefire_64@yahoo.com
   [2]: http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/whitefirefanfic/leigh9.html
   [3]: http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/whitefirefanfic/



	9. Ripples

We All Fall Down 9 We All Fall Down 9 

We All Fall Down

*Author's note: I will continually edit these and all stories I write; I'm compulsive that way. :) Sorry FOX and TnT...   
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 9 Ripples   
  
  
  
She could only hope that these visions would stop. But the were growing faster; all she could do was hope that they were just imaginings.   
  
English was almost over. She had spent most of it looking over her should at the door, watching for some hint of her demons. There were about five minutes left to the rest of class and everyone was standing around waiting for the bell to ring. Leigh stood listen to a group of friends talk about the latest movies. The feeling washed over her again, and she glanced at the doorway. A black trench coat floated across her eyesight. She turned in shock. Lyle spun towards her, drawing his weapon. She saw him pulled the trigger, the bullet sliced the air.   
  
"Leigh!" She blinked, her friend called her name. "Hey, wake up, the bell rang."   
  
  
  
She could no longer concentrate; and she had a slight headache. The feeling that someone was watching her was growing to the point that she unconsciously glanced over her shoulder every now and than.   
  
In the middle of a test in her science class, Leigh glanced up and stared at the doorway.   
  
"I'd like to remind you to keep you eyes on your own test, please," Mr. Meissinger said meaningfully to the class, peering at Leigh over his book.   
  
Leigh stood up, fixated, and backed up several steps, almost tripping over her chair. Several of the kids snickered. Mr. Meissinger cleared his throat. Leigh fell back into the chair, dazed.   
  
She picked up her pencil and tried to write on the paper. Her hand shook badly.   
  
"Miss Sanchez, is there something you would like to share with the class?"   
  
"Lyle," she muttered.   
  
"Miss Sanchez," he said annoyed, "The principal's office is right down the hall if you would like to discuss this with him."   
  
She gazed at the paper, confused. The black ink glowed bright red. She jumped up out of the chair.   
  
Mr. Meissinger slammed his book down. "Miss Sanchez, sit down," he shouted at her.   
  
She ignored him. "Lyle!" she stammered.   
  
"Miss San…" he stopped when someone knocked on the door. He was startled by the noise, but stood up and walked over to the door. Leigh listened as two voices fought.   
  
"No," she murmured. The other students looked at her in confusion and interest. Then Mr. Meissinger came flying through the doorway and crashed into a lab table. Several students gasped.   
  
"Leigh!" a voice yelled. Lyle stepped into the classroom, "Leigh, I know you are here."   
  
She ducked under her table just in time.   
  
"It would be easier to come out now than to have me search for you."   
  
She searched frantically for the switch to the microphone. She whispered to Jarod, but all she heard was static. Unfortunately, so did Lyle. Lyle crossed the room to her table and was about to shove it aside when she stood up suddenly.   
  
He held his gun out at her with both hands.   
  
"Don't try anything," he said and reached one of his hands out, "Give me that."   
  
She put the microphone in his hand. He threw it to the floor and it shattered on impact.   
  
"Jarod isn't there to save you. You're coming with me."   
  
"I don't think so," a voice behind them said.   
  
As Lyle turned towards the voice, Leigh took the opportunity and lunged at him. His gun fell from his grasp as she slammed into him. He shouted in surprise and fell to the floor. He reached up to grab at the gun, but a foot kicked it out of the way. It was Mrs. Haley. She picked it up at pointed it at Lyle as Leigh scrambled to her feet.   
  
"Don't move," Mrs. Haley said, "Leigh, call the cops."   
  
Lyle sighed in disgust, "Listen, if I could just talk to someone in charge here. I was sent by my company to retrieve our property…"   
  
"You don't know who I am, do you Mr. Lyle. Leigh is not your property, and neither is my son," she said.   
  
"You are Jarod's mother?" he said in disbelief.   
  
Leigh laughed in amazement, "You mean we actually found you?"   
  
"Yes."   
  
Leigh ran down the hall to the payphone. She called Jarod at the police station.   
  
"I'll be right there," he said.   
  
  
  
Mrs. Haley did not recognize Jarod when he came for Lyle, but he knew her. The reunion was emotional, especially for Leigh. She only wished the same could happen for her, but her parents were dead.   
  
Leigh took the bus back to the apartment. She decided that they should be able to have time alone. The bus took almost an hour to reach her house. It was crowded and slow-going most of the way. She did not mind, though. It would make the wait for Jarod shorter. She hopped off when it stopped in front of her building.   
  
The run-down old building was a blessed relief after the past month's events. Today it was more like a home than a shelter. She walked up to the apartment where they stayed. It was rather nice inside compared to how the outside looked. There were two bedrooms, a small kitchen, and a living room where Jarod kept the computer running because it monitored the microphone. She leaned over the computer thoughtfully and sat down. She opened a drawer in the table that the computer sat on. She picked up a pile of DSA's from the drawer and put the top one in. It was empty. She tried another, which was empty to. All of them were. Why would Jarod keep these if they were blank? She stiffened in her chair. That feeling of someone watching her had returned. She turned around barely in time to see someone run into the kitchen. She followed.   
  
"Jarod?" she whispered uncertainly.   
  
A noise behind her startled her. She turned around. Jarod was sitting at the computer. A message was typed on the screen. "Leigh wake up, Leigh wake up, Leigh wake up, Leigh…" was all it said. She stared at the screen.   
  
Wake up? What? she wondered.   
  
"Jarod, what do you mean?" she asked, "Hey, Jarod, wake up."   
  
He was slumped over the keyboard.   
  
She shook him, but he did not move. "Jarod!" she shouted and shook him harder.   
  
She glanced back at the desk. There was an empty syringe near his arm.   
  
"How?" she wondered aloud.   
  
A crash came from the kitchen. She turned around and saw Lyle standing in the doorway connecting the two rooms. His blue eyes burned. She shuddered at the sight. He moved towards her, his arms outstretched, beckoning. She backed up to where Jarod lay. Lyle pulled a syringe out of his pocket and held it towards her, threateningly.   
  
"Leigh, I won't hurt you, just give me your arm."   
  
She picked up the empty syringe and brandished it like a weapon.   
  
"No."   
  
He dove at her, trying to avoid being raked with the needle. He squeezed her wrist so hard that she dropped the needle. He pinned her down and held her arm tightly.   
  
"No!" she screamed, "Get off me!"   
  
"Leigh, please, quiet down," he said calmly.   
  
He stabbed the needle into her arm. She grimaced as he injected its contents.   
  
"Come on, Leigh, wake up."   
  
Wake up?   
  
  
  
Lyle shook her, "Come on, wake up Leigh."   
  
He undid some of the bindings around her head. She shook her head and coughed.   
  
"That's right, come on now, wake up," he murmured to her.   
  
"No," she muttered, "No, no, get off me, let me go."   
  
"Shh," he whispered, "Its okay, Leigh, you're awake now. It's over."   
  
She opened her eyes slowly, "Mrs. Haley?"   
  
Mr. Cox said in a steady tone; "There is no Mrs. Haley."   
  
She moaned. Leigh looked around the room. She saw a desk in the corner covered with papers. It was the same place where Jarod's program was. She looked at Lyle and Cox wildly.   
  
"No," she shouted, "I won't let you!"   
  
"You already have," said Cox in his aristocratic tone.   
  
"Leigh, for the past few days, you were in a link with Jarod," explained Lyle.   
  
She shook her head in horror, "No, we escaped…"   
  
"You only made it to the road, Leigh, both of you were out when we found you."   
  
"No, you are lying, a man saved us, he brought us to the hospital…"   
  
"Leigh, you imagined it."   
  
"NO!" she screamed.   
  
Lyle shouted at her to stop. Casually, Mr. Cox picked up one of the needles off a nearby tray. He withdrew some liquid from a bottle with a red label on it. He then stabbed it into her arm.   
  
"Shut up, Leigh."   
  
Lyle interrupted, "No, don't, Mr. Cox, you can't mix those drugs…"   
  
He ignored Lyle and injected the drug into her arm. When she still would not stop, he dragged the tip through her arm several inches. She screamed louder.   
  
"Mr. Cox, what are you doing?" Lyle demanded in frustration. His project was getting out of hand.   
  
Cox ignored him and said calmly to Leigh, "Shut up or I'll do this all the way to your hand."   
  
She shuttered, but did not scream.   
  
"You have to be tough to show them who's in command."   
  
Leigh shivered and fell forward against the bindings in a faint.   
  
"I told you not to mix them," Lyle said indignantly and walked out of the room in disgust.   
  
  
  



	10. Die Wahrheit

We All Fall Down 10 We All Fall Down 10 

We All Fall Down

*Author's note: Sorry FOX and TnT... 

Chapter 10 Die Wahrheit   
  
  
  
  
  
"We should start the program today, Mr. Cox," said Raines.   
  
"Why don't we simply use it on Jarod? It would be a lot more timely."   
  
"Decimate a mind like his? Too risky."   
  
"Is he really of much value to us, though? We have the disks-"   
  
"And we need more. Leigh may be intelligent, but she is not as much as Jarod. She was raised outside of the Centre, whereas he was raised in this sheltered environment. Do not forget that he is the key to the Centre. Without him, we would not have the means to compete with other more "traditional" companies. She is better in that field anyway."   
  
"Yes sir, I will start the program today."   
  
  
  
"It was all a dream, Sydney, a whole fucking dream."   
  
"I know Leigh, they have done something like this to Jarod before."   
  
"But it was so real, I could touch things and feel the texture. It was more than a dream; the people, the places, were so real! And everything happened like I wanted, like I knew it would."   
  
"It combined what both of you wanted to happen. Jarod wanted to find his parents and you wanted… justice."   
  
"Does Jarod know?"   
  
"He recognized the effects of his program during the link; there were several problems near the beginning. Lyle did not put him into it for a while so we could stabilize him after he was wounded."   
  
"By Lyle," she added.   
  
"Then Lyle brought him out of it for a second time later on. There were some complications, but Jarod agreed to continue."   
  
"What was the problem?"   
  
"I think you tried to Read him during the link. It caused him to relapse and relive old memories. With him, memory lane is Route 66." She remembered seeing Jarod sprawled out on the floor of the summerhouse, wondering what he had gone through.   
  
"Is that why he hid the DSA's from me, to hide what the Centre did to him?"   
  
"Yes. He tries to protect you. The Centre is more dangerous than you can imagine. It is a horrible place for a teenager like yourself."   
  
She bowed her head sadly. "And Jarod. What will happen now?" she asked.   
  
"Lyle said that they may explore the new opportunities that the success of the link has opened up."   
  
She shivered at the thought; "Will it ever end?"   
  
Sydney stared into her eyes; he wanted to relieve the pain she felt. He knew there was nothing he could do. "I don't know Leigh. I honestly don't know."   
  
Harsh voices came from behind her door. Sydney turned around as Cox opened the door to her room accompanied by two sweepers.   
  
"You may leave us, Sydney," he said.   
  
Leigh sat down on the bed. It took all her might not to stand back up when Cox sat next to her. She looked away as he began to talk.   
  
"We need you to help us. Your gift would be best applied if we could help you to understand it. It would be a pity to let it go to waste."   
  
"As your slave? I won't let you control me."   
  
"We can. We did with Jarod, but he was easier to subdue as a child."   
  
"You are lying, he fought you and he escaped."   
  
"Why do you think he stayed in the link?"   
  
The question hit her hard. She had wondered that since Sydney had told her he had agreed to continue it, "No, he couldn't…"   
  
"He chose to stay. The program was his 'greatest creation'," he said in an eerily calm voice.   
  
"But Raines made him create it!"   
  
"No, Raines helped him to create it."   
  
"Then why does he hate you, Mr. Cox?" she shouted at him.   
  
He seized her arm and pulled her towards him. She struggled to pull her arm free, but Cox held it tightly and whispered in her ear, "Because he is a fool."   
  
He pulled her off the bed and to the door. With the sweepers encompassing them, Cox dragged her through hallways and down stairs. The corridors became darker as they went further.   
  
"He is a fool who does not know what is best for him, but we will use you to get him to cooperate." Cox said in a powerful tone.   
  
"I won't help you."   
  
He ignored her and stopped in front of a door. He opened it and shoved her inside. There was an operating table in the middle of the room, which the sweepers dragged her to. As one strapped her legs to the table, the other undid her handcuffs. When he removed them, she whipped her arms out of his grasp. Desperately, she fought against him, trying to tear her legs free. The sweeper tried to grab her arms, but she struggled. In frustration, he hit her across the face and hastily tied down her arms.   
  
Leigh opened her eyes slowly and returned her frosted glare to Cox.   
  
"You have been here for quite some time. Not once have you willingly done anything for the Centre. The only reason you gave us Jarod is because Lyle used a truth serum. You still resisted. Recently, Raines and I developed a certain program of drugs that will ensure your cooperation. Some of the drugs include monohetris, which you have been given steadily already, LSD, propranolol, and phenosarapine. Eventually, the drugs will 'change' your mind."   
  
She stared into Cox's blank face. No emotions were held in the man's eyes, and it gave her the chills. He returned her stare and they locked eyes. She glared at him and whispered, "Damn you Cox." He released a spray of fluid from a needle into the air and looked at her grimly. The sweepers twisted her arm towards him.   
  



	11. Echoes

We All Fall Down 11 We All Fall Down 11 

  
Rushing, whispering, fleeting,   
Soaring in the sky   
Flying, falling, dying,   
But never knowing why. 

  
Chapter 11 Echoes   
  
  
  
She closed her eyes, not wanted to think about what would happen next. What would happen when the pain stopped, the overwhelming pain that gnawed on her every thought. The pain the drugs caused interrupted all concentration so she could barely Read anyone. She felt empty and alone without it. She could no longer sense Jarod. She was scared; alone and lost without a world so few ventured in.   
  
Cox would come to visit her. To taunt her in his calm, complacent voice. He asked her every time; "Will you help us?"   
  
She tried to resist, but it seemed easier to let go. She had to remember what she was fighting for. But freedom seemed so far away, like a dream or a distant memory. The burning pain in her mind pushed it away. She was losing.   
  
* * *   
  
Through the hiatuses of time, where pain subsided to a dull aching, Lyle took the opportunity and came to see her. It was an odd relief to see him open the door to her cell, rather than Mr. Cox. He spoke briefly with her.   
  
"Hey, Leigh," Lyle whispered.   
  
"What do you want?" she asked, her voice was hoarse.   
  
He looked away, "I am sorry for what happened to you. This project was never supposed to get this out of hand."   
  
"Out of hand, what was it supposed to be?"   
  
Lyle acted as if he wanted to say something, but stopped.   
  
She sighed, "I guess I am supposed to except your apology, shrug off all you have done to me, right Lyle?"   
  
"You are still defiant even when I am trying to help."   
  
"What do you expect, Lyle. I told you that this place, the Centre, is not good. I will never forgive you for what you have done to me and to Jarod."   
  
"I, I understand."   
  
She was surprised by his words. An apology, from Lyle. She must be dreaming. Maybe, deep down, there really was a human being inside the man. She shook her head. These drugs must really be getting to me, she thought, either that or I'm going insane.   
  
She shuttered as searing bolts of pain shot through her senses.   
  
"Leigh, what did he give you? You can tell me."   
  
She cringed, but managed a weak smile, "Nothing too different than what you were giving me," she closed her eyes, "Your old favorite, monohetris and phenosarapine."   
  
"The truth drug?"   
  
"Yes, he also used…" she shook harder, "Propranolol… and…"   
  
"Shh… it's okay, Leigh, just tell me. I can help you."   
  
"L… SD," her face contorted in pain.   
  
"Is that all?"   
  
She nodded.   
  
"Do you know what the effects are?"   
  
She nodded, "I'm losing," Leigh whispered, "Please help me Lyle," she whispered.   
  
"I will, just tell me what is going to happen, what do these drugs do?"   
  
"When the drugs are mixed, they make… the user d-dependent. When the program of drugs is finished, Leigh can't block Reading anymore. When it's finished, no one is left to fight him… Cox, when it's finished…"   
  
"Cox controls your mind," he determined.   
  
She shuttered. Lyle slipped her hand into his. He held it tightly as her strength ebbed out.   
  
* * *   
  
Leigh had seen TV stories about people lost or captured that lost their mind. She never expected it to happen to herself.   
  
I try to bury all thoughts away, deep into my mind, where the drugs would never reach them. If Cox found them… Found them? With a shovel? I laughed to myself. Never let them go, mine, my thoughts. Never let Cox touch them. He finds out what I'm hiding, he'll take them away, then I'll have none.   
  
More thoughts, confused thoughts rippled through her mind. She could barely understand them, let alone think straight enough to focus on them. She tried to shove them away, keep the drugs from touching them. Like when Jarod first came back.   
  
Her Reading was irrepressible, she used others thoughts to make up for her own. It was making her go insane trying to figure out what she was, or what others, were thinking. The drugs destroyed her consciousness. Cox played on her confusion, trying to get her to get her to forget everything, every reason as to why she was fighting him. But no drug could ever take that away from her.   
  
  
  
Sydney knocked quietly on the door. He opened it cautiously when he heard no response. He had found her at last. She was lying on the bed; her blue eyes were closed. He sat next to her bed and shook her gently.   
  
"Leigh?" he said in his mildly accented voice.   
  
She moved slightly and opened her eyes. He saw a flicker of recognition dance across her eyes. She inhaled sharply. When he reached his hand out to brush her hair out of her face, she sat up, avoiding his hand.   
  
He smiled warmly, "Leigh, are you alright?"   
  
She hugged her knees and started to rock back and forth. When he reached out again, she cringed and covered her head with her arms. He put his hand on her shoulder. She batted it away, but allowed him to reach out again. Sydney looked into her deep, blue eyes. She glanced up and returned his stare for a fraction of a second, but looked quickly away. This time she did not move when he brushed her hair aside. He saw a long scar under her eye. He lifted her head up to see it better. When he touched it, she struggled and covered her face. He grabbed her arm to move it away, but he stopped when he saw even more scars on her wrist. Leigh closed her eyes when he rolled up the sleeve of her shirt. Small bruises covered her arm where needles full of different chemicals had been injected.   
  
"Who did this to you?" he asked her.   
  
Leigh shook her head.   
  
"Leigh, please tell me."   
  
He was startled by her speech, "No, no, no say. Not let, not let," she murmured.   
  
"Was it Lyle?" he asked.   
  
"No, no."   
  
"Who was it?"   
  
"No say, not let. No say, no say," she shook her head violently.   
  
"Was it Cox?"   
  
She stared at him sadly, "No say," she said softly.   
  
"It was Cox."   
  
The door behind him opened. Leigh peered anxiously over Sydney's shoulder to see who it was. When she saw Cox' face, she cowered in the corner of her bed, rocking and muttering, "No, no, no, no say, no, no…"   
  
"Sydney, get out."   
  
Sydney turned to Cox, "How could you do this? She's a child!"   
  
"She is the property of the Centre."   
  
Sydney watched as Cox stuck out his hand. Obediently, Leigh offered her arm to him. She moaned as he injected a drug into her arm.   
  
"No, no, no, no, no say, no say!" she shrieked.   
  
"Shut up," Cox ordered.   
  
She started to cry. She twisted her arm out of his grasp. "No say," she whispered. Cox leaned over to her and whispered something to her that made her start shouting again. He grabbed both of her arms and shook her. "Say it, Leigh!"   
  
"No say, no, no, no say!"   
  
She gasped in pain. The drug was beginning to take effect. She grabbed the sides of her head. "Say it!" he said.   
  
Leigh shuttered briefly, "I, I work f-for the C-Centre, f-for the Centre, n-now. I w-work f-for the Centre now, I work for the Centre now."   
  
Sydney carefully picked up one of the bottles off the counter and left. * * *   
  
"Sodium phenithol phenosarapine," Broots said.   
  
"What is it?" asked Sydney.   
  
Broots glanced nervously at Miss Parker and Sydney.   
  
"You don't want to know."   
  
"What?"   
  
"It is a mind controlling truth drug. It works from the inside out."   
  
Sidney asked cautiously, "What do you mean by that?"   
  
Broots read from the computer, "It says that it attacks the subconscious slowly by creating bizarre and realistic dreams. With the help of LSD and an ultra-high dose of propranolol, not only do those dreams become hallucinations, but also the blockage of serotonin causes gaps in memory and extreme mood swings. The dreams invade the conscious mind by disrupting thought processes, advancing activity in some areas of the brain and lowering function in others. It also says that 'certain drugs can lower or heighten certain functions'."   
  
"So basically, Cox can pick and choose between what to sedate and what to stimulate."   
  
Miss Parker picked up on what Sydney was saying, "He is increasing her Reading ability and lowering her other brain functions. With what?"   
  
Broots looked back at the monitor. "He is also administering monohetris. Lyle said it increases her Reading ability."   
  
"The monohetris is working in her favor this time. As he gives it to her, she absorbs personalities of people she Reads. The other drugs attack her mind, destroying the new personalities, which makes them act as a guard. Her own personality may be unaffected, hidden somewhere," said Sydney, thinking, "He must not know that."   
  
"The monohetris is not a failsafe, and possibly Cox may have simply targeted areas in her brain associated with speech and language. Her conscious may not be breaking down, just her English."   
  
"But how can we help her?!" Sydney emphasized his words by throwing his hands up into the air.   
  
"It's time we have a discussion with Mr. Lyle," Miss Parker said angrily.   
  
  
  
Lyle was staring at his computer when they entered. Miss Parker got right to the point without pleasantries.   
  
"What is Cox doing to Leigh?"   
  
Lyle sighed. "You already know what he's doing to Leigh if you are here," he looked meaningfully at Broots who shifted nervously under his gaze.   
  
"How," asked Miss Parker, "Why?"   
  
Lyle looked back at the monitor; "He's creating the prefect savant. Some one who's willing to do anything and smart enough to. A speaking Angelo without the conscience. I've been trying to find what drugs he has been using. She said monohetris, phenosarapine, LSD, and propranolol."   
  
"A witches' brew of mind altering drugs," said Sydney.   
  
"All with no apparent cure," Lyle finished.   
  
"What? No, that can't be true!" shouted Sydney aghast.   
  
"The only person who could possibly save her is Jarod; but you'll have to find him first."   
  
"Then that's exactly what we will do," finished Miss Parker.   
  
* * *   
  
Sweepers came to her room at night with their nondescript ties and their nondescript suits. As she slept peacefully, they carried her to a room several floors down. The wall next to the bed was covered with a huge mirror. When she awoke the next day she seemed calmer and more aware than the past few days. She stood up and stared at the mirror, contemplating. She then banged on it several times, "Let me out!" she shouted. She stopped suddenly when she finally noticed her own reflection. Her hair was unkempt; her eyes were hollow and blackened like the "druggies" that infested her school. She put her hand up to her reflection as if to rub it away. She suddenly drew back her fist and slammed it into the mirror. She whipped around and folded her arms. She glared at the floor.   
  
She heard the door open behind her. She turned to attack, but stopped when she saw it was Mr. Cox. She bowed her head respectfully and backed up several steps.   
  
"How are you today, Leigh?"   
  
"Fine, sir," she murmured.   
  
"Good. I am glad that you are more alert today. I have another test for you. One of our clients is interested in a certain file in the CIA's database but a code has eluded their top computer experts. We have started Jarod on this task but he seems uncooperative. We need you to change that."   
  
  
  
They walked side by side down a narrow corridor, walking calmly past a group of three that stared at them in shock. It was dark, but Leigh knew what faces watched her pass. With Cox at her side, they did not matter to her. Leigh barely even glanced at them. She had more important things to do than to notice them. She was the Centre's Reader, and she had a job to do. She just walked by with a serene expression.   
  
The sweeper stepped respectfully out of the way as Leigh and Cox reached the door to Jarod's room. Jarod was standing near the bed when they walked in. When he stepped towards Leigh, one of the sweepers delivered him a punishing blow across the face. Temporarily stunned, Jarod collapsed into the sweeper's arms. He was dragged to a chair, tied to it and handcuffed.   
  
"Leigh, are you okay?" he asked worried.   
  
She stared coldly at him, "You have information the Centre needs, I was brought here to get it."   
  
"Leigh? No, what did you do to her?" he shouted wildly.   
  
"I work for the Centre now, Jarod, and you will, too."   
  
  
  
"So far, Jarod has only worked out the first nineteen keys," she wrote them down on a page Cox handed her.   
  
Cox stepped quietly out of the room when Leigh had assured him that she could finish faster if he was not there.   
  
"Get _out_ of my mind, Leigh," Jarod uttered accusingly when he left.   
  
She smiled blankly at him, "Why resist Jarod? Escape is hopeless, you know that. I can Read your thoughts; I know what you do and say and think. The Centre is watching every move you make, and so am I. It would be easier for us if you would willingly tell us what we need to know. It takes longer if you do not comply, but we will have an answer."   
  
"Why Leigh, what did they do?"   
  
"I told you, I work for the Centre now."   
  
"Leigh, why?"   
  
"I WORK FOR THE CENTRE NOW!" she screamed at him.   
  
He pushed back in surprise. "What did they do, Leigh, please tell me I can help you."   
  
"I work for the Centre now, there is nothing else for me. I work for the Centre now."   
  
"Why?" he edged her on, trying to break what barriers Cox established in her mind.   
  
"Nowhere for me to go, I don't have anyone. I work for, for…" she muttered dolefully.   
  
"The Centre?" he finished for her, "You have me, you know that. I can help you, you must see that."   
  
She looked at him with piercing eyes that wanted to say more.   
  
"You stayed in the link. You helped them then, so I'm helping them now."   
  
"I did it for you, to give you a break from them. Please trust me."   
  
She sat down on the cold floor.   
  
"You… will help us. We, we need you to help the Centre."   
  
"Please Leigh, tell me what's holding you with them?"   
  
He kept wondering, deep in his mind, if the walls the drugs had put up, and those it had torn down could ever be repaired.   
  
She wanted to say more to him. The one who she had captured. She wanted to say she cared, or to explain what she was doing, but she couldn't. Something held that back, but something even deeper pushed forward. A rain of emotions fell over her face, despair, confusion, sadness… She tried to say something, but the goddamned drugs stopped her.   
  
She stared into his eyes. They were so caring and understanding, but as much as Jarod could pretend, he could never pretend her pain. But she could make him.   
  
She walked up to him, his chained body unsure of her next movements. The words 'Friend or foe,' danced on his mind, he remain cautious. She no longer needed to close her eyes to Read. Freedom.   
  
"You know why I'm helping them, why I'm against you? You bastard."   
  
Jarod blinked, shocked at her words.   
  
"Don't act like you don't know." Her face almost touched his.   
  
"Leigh, what is it? What happened?"   
  
She slapped him across the face. "YOU KILLED MY FUCKING PARENTS!"   
  
"No, I didn't!"   
  
"You told them where they were, where I was, what I was."   
  
"I had no choice! Leigh, please. They made me choose between… between your parents and you. They would have killed all of you if I hadn't."   
  
"I'll make you wish you hadn't."   
  
"Please Leigh, don't do this."   
  
"You killed my parents, brought me here, and let me help Lyle." She tied into Jarod, tapping his mind and like a strobe light, flashed images of the day they died to him.   
  
"Leigh, please, it's too much."   
  
She fired them, images of their death; the pain she had felt with them as they died. The bullet that sliced their skin, draining her life with it.   
  
"Stop! It hurts, Leigh please!"   
  
Leigh increased the ferocity of the memories.   
  
Jarod concentrated on his former life at the Centre; anything strong enough to make her stop the day he was captured, Kenny and Damon's betrayal, the day Lyle tried to kill him-   
  
"I know how that felt, you forget I was their test subject while you were gone. I learned about you to find you." She released him.   
  
Jarod gasped in air, moaning in pain. She smiled. He closed his eyes as small rivulet of blood ran from his nose. Probably some brain damage, she thought. Cox will not be happy if I damage him.   
  
"What did you do?"   
  
"Quid pro quo. That was the day they died. I was Reading them; I felt them die."   
  
Jarod stared at her in shock. "You felt that, they died with you in their mind? You can make others feel that?"   
  
"Yes."   
  
She watched him as he proceeded it.   
  
"You made that happen."   
  
"Leigh, I never thought…"   
  
"Obviously."   
  
"Listen! I told them where you were before I knew the truth. They told me there was a complication. That only you or your parents would live, and that I had to choose which who. I had no idea they would kill on purpose." Leigh regarded him; tears sparkled in her eyes.   
  
"It's not fair!"   
  
"I know, Leigh. What the Centre did to both of us was wrong. Leigh, I know they hurt you, but I want you to know I never wanted to do that to you. I want to help you, please let me help you."   
  
"You can't help me Jarod."   
  
"Leigh give me a chance- let me try."   
  
"You don't get it, do you? You have no idea what this is like."   
  
"What?"   
  
"You tried so hard to Read; I don't try, I don't start, I end."   
  
"I don't understand."   
  
"Reading is a release. A constant. Lyle and Cox- they knew. Monohetris destroys the blocks I put up against my ability. It takes to much to stop it, Cox prevented any possibility of stopping my Reading. I can't think without someone else in my head. The voices are always there." She crossed the room to a counter-top where Lyle kept the drugs he used on Jarod.   
  
"Leigh, what are you doing?" He asked.   
  
She picked up one bottle and a syringe.   
  
"Ring-a-ring o'roses."   
  
"Leigh?"   
  
She drew out 5 c.c.s of the liquid, and threw the bottle to the floor.   
  
"Leigh, what is that."   
  
"Did you know of all the poisons Lyle kept in your room? There's quite an interesting collection, if you care to look."   
  
"Leigh, don't do this."   
  
She stared at him, serene, as if she never heard him. "Torture was always simpatico to Lyle. I wonder why he changed so suddenly, I wonder if Bobby is alive again, no," she decided.   
  
"Leigh, put down the syringe."   
  
"Pocket full of posies."   
  
She glanced at him, "It won't hurt." She said as if it were obvious.   
  
Jarod looked up at her in fear. "Leigh, you should put the syringe down."   
  
"Blue something, ringed, bottled, heck I don't know. Hapalochlaena lunulata, yes blue-ringed octopus. A pretty choice; I do believe your VCTF friends encountered it once, huh?"   
  
She walked over to Jarod, stroking the sides of his face in an abnormal manner. He was worried about how far she would go. He studied her.   
  
"I like your mind Jarod. So clean and perfect, innocent. Yet you hold terrible secrets and torture that never stop hounding you. But you have a family."   
  
She stared at him accusingly and began to play with the syringe in her hands.   
  
"A-tishoo! A-tishoo! Did you know that it wasn't originally ashes?"   
  
"Don't let it end like this. I can help you, Leigh."   
  
"No, the affects are permanent, Cox made certain."   
  
"Please, let me try."   
  
"No."   
  
"You don't have to do this."   
  
"Jarod, you have nothing to be afraid of, I'm not going to inject you."   
  
Leigh gazed into his eyes. They were so warm; she knew they were not the eyes of a killer. With all he had done, she couldn't forget all he did as Oniscus.   
  
"I Read them, I Read them all. Lyle, Cox, Sydney… They don't understand our pain. They don't understand why, even Sydney. I've been in Lyle's mind. Through the torture and the walls the Centre put up in him, I found Bobby. But he never will. I don't want this anymore, I hate this! I want to have a normal life, away from the Centre, isolated from others' minds. You take it for granted. You struggle to obtain what I curse."   
  
"Leigh, I know you feel like you're trapped forever that way, that's what the Centre wants you to think. They don't want you to hope; they'll crush you if you let them. Fight them! Please, stay with me, fight!"   
  
"No, I won't anymore."   
  
"Please, Leigh, stop, don't do this!"   
  
She pushed the needle into her stomach. "We all fall down." She pressed the plunger down.   
  
Slowly, she sank to her knees. Her mouth open, she struggled to breathe. Jarod watched frozen in horror as she collapsed on the floor.   
  
He screamed for help, from anyone.   
  
Cox entered, along with the sweepers guarding the door. Immediately he tore over to Jarod, punching him in the stomach. "What did you do?"   
  
Jarod gasped for breath.   
  
"Answer me!" He shook Jarod.   
  
"She took poison. She said it was the blue-ringed octopus. I tried to stop her."   
  
"Get her out of here," he barked to a sweeper.   
  
"She can live, she has a chance. If you…"   
  
"No, Jarod, I don't think she'll live. It's a pity, but…"   
  
"Don't let her die!"   
  
"No, she took too much, you shouldn't have let her, but there is nothing we can do now."   
  
"That's a lie! You can save her, you bastard! Don't kill her! She doesn't have to die!"   
  
Cox stood up and walked out as Jarod screamed at him, "What are you doing?"   
  
"Sydney! Miss Parker! Please help her!"   
  
  
  
Leigh flicked the kickstand on her bike down. A curl of dust followed her from the empty desert. She walked past a group of teenagers. They were frozen, faceless creatures fixed in their pointless positions forever. A girl with curly blonde hair caught Leigh's attention as she walked passed. As she glanced back at the girl, her statue face smiled, then disappeared, forgotten.   
  
From an endless, empty stretch of road, a line of black cars raced down towards her. As it passed the teens, they crumbled. Pieces of the mannequins scattered under the tires. Leigh stared, not blinking as the heat of the desert distorted the images of the broken statues. She stopped, allowing them to encompass her in a cage of black chrome. She watched one, passively. A hand pushed the door outward, beckoning to her. Leigh slowly made her way across the pavement to the open door. Lyle held her hand as she stepped inside, the car evaporating her form. The door slammed shut. As the limousine sped off into the road's infinity a ghostly face appeared in the rear window.   
  
  
  
  
Ring-a-ring o'roses   
Pocket full of posies   
A-tishoo! A-tishoo!   
We all fall down…   
  
  
  
  
  
THE END  


< Prev 1. Lyle2. Potassium-Chloride3. Betrayal4. The School5. Alcatraz6. Dreams7. Freedom8. Visions9. Ripples10. Die Wahrheit11. Echoes

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted. 

Favorite : Story  Author    Follow : Story  Author 

Login

  * [FanFiction][1]
  * [FictionPress][1]
  * [Google][1]
  * [Facebook][1]
  * [Twitter][1]

Post Review

* * *

Report Abuse Add Story to Community  Go  .  

Share

  * [Google+][2]
  * [Twitter][3]
  * [Tumblr][4]
  * [Facebook][5]

  .  Follow/Favorite

+ Follow 

* * *

Story  Writer 
+ Favorite 

* * *

Story  Writer 

Working... Close Save

   [1]: #
   [2]: https://plus.google.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fanfiction.net%2Fs%2F286755%2F11%2F
   [3]: http://twitter.com/home?status=Reading+story%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fanfiction.net%2Fs%2F286755%2F11%2F
   [4]: http://www.tumblr.com/share/link?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fanfiction.net%2Fs%2F286755%2F11%2F
   [5]: http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fanfiction.net%2Fs%2F286755%2F11%2F



End file.
